The Popular Party (ÖVP) of former Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz has won without surprises and in a comfortable way the anticipated general elections held this Sunday in Austria, according to the projections broadcast by ORF public television at the close of the polling stations from a sample of 20,000 votes

In line with the latest demographic surveys, the ÖVP would have obtained 37.2% of the support, 5.7 percentage points more than in the 2017 elections and well ahead of its main rival, the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), which I would have obtained 22%.

If this data were confirmed in the scrutiny, the Social Democrats would have reaped the worst electoral result in their history. The SPÖ not only loses 4.9 percentage points with respect to the 2017 elections but also cannot seek comfort in the possibility of leading a Government with a majority of lefts. The JETZ list, of the former leader of the Greens, Peter Pilz, will not enter Parliament and The Greens, although they will return forcefully to the Chamber, they would not add up, with 14.3% attributed to the first forecasts, most of the 183 seats in Congress.

The liberals of NEOS, with Beate-Meinl-Reisinger at the helm, with 7.4% of the votes, would have almost doubled their 2017 results while the Nationalists of the Freedom Party (FPÖ) would achieve, despite the scandal of the "Ibizagate" and its increasingly proven contacts with the extreme right, retain the third position, although they lose 10 points compared to the previous elections. Awaiting count, the FPÖ would have achieved 16%.

The formation that he directs since the beginning of the month Norbert Hofer retains, despite his backward movement at the polls, the best letters to negotiate with Kurz the reissue of the coalition that that party blew up last May in the wake of the scandal of the Ibiza video, a tape that showed the then leader of FPÖ, Christian Strache negotiating favors with a supposed Russian oligarch.

The winks between the ÖVP and the FPÖ have also been a constant during the campaign. Both have praised the work done in the scarce 18 months that the Government had of life - the legislature is 5 years in Austria - and they are willing to continue working for Austria. Kurz has not explicitly stated his preference for the FPÖ, as usual in the campaign, but the programmatic coincidences between both parties add up to almost as much as the arithmetic.

According to the estimated data, the participation rate in these elections has revolved around 65 percent the 6.4 million that make up the electorate. In 2017 it was 80%. Regarding the vote by mail, the Ministry of Interior speaks of a historical record. In total, there have been more than one million voters who requested their ballots beforehand, which represents an increase of 20% compared to the previous elections. In Vienna, the increase has been even 30

The vote by mail count will begin on Monday, so the final results will be expected. Political activity, however, will resume immediately. Kurz will open the round of talks for government formation on Tuesday. His first interlocutor will be SPÖ, the second most voted party. It is not foreseeable that both parties will lay the foundations for a great coalition. This formula, which has ruled Austria for decades, is currently unpopular.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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