Fischer re-elected president of Austria

Turnout at historic low and far-right does badly.

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Heinz Fischer, a social democrat, has been re-elected as Austria’s president with 78.9% of the vote. Turnout in yesterday’s election was just 49%. His main challenger, Barbara Rosenkranz of the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), received 15.6%. The office of president is largely ceremonial.

Austria’s chancellor Werner Faymann, a social democrat, attributed the low turnout to the failure of the centre-right Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) to endorse Fischer. The ÖVP, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, had not put forward a candidate of its own.

Turnout in the last presidential election, in 2004, was 71.6%.

The result is a disappointment for the far right. Heinz-Christian Strache, the head of the FPÖ, said that there had been a “witch hunt” against Rosenkranz, who was accused of holding ambiguous views on Austria’s Nazi past. During campaigning, Strache had talked about reaching the 35% mark.

José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, congratulated Fischer on his re-election. “I am sure that, not least thanks to your work, the relations between the Republic of Austria and the European Commission will continue to be close and trustworthy,” he said.