Austrian president wants re-election by first-round knockout

• Candidates in Austria’s presidential election wrapping up their campaigns before Sunday’s vote.
• Alexander Van der Bellen, the current president and clear favourite, hopes to win a majority and avoid a run-off.
• Walter Rosenkranz of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) is his closest competitor, with around 16% of the vote.

Candidates in Austria’s presidential election started wrapping up their campaigns before Sunday’s vote. Alexander Van der Bellen, the current president and clear favourite, hopes to win a majority and avoid a run-off.

Most polls have shown that 78-year-old Van der Bellen, who used to lead the Greens, has slightly more than the 50% needed to win outright in the first round. That means the challenge is to get his supporters together and show them that he is not sure to win.

The two main parties in the middle haven’t put up any candidates, and top people from both parties support Van der Bellen. Six other men are running against him. Walter Rosenkranz of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) is his closest competitor, with around 16% of the vote.

“This is not a done deal,” Van der Bellen said at his last campaign rally on Friday. Bigwigs from every party in parliament except the FPO, which is the third largest in the lower house, were there.

“Please go and vote and convince others to go and vote. … The biggest adversaries of democratic participation this Sunday are the sofa and comfort.”

The Austrian president mostly has a ceremonial job, but he or she also has a lot of power, which means they have to watch over times of change and chaos. Van der Bellen has been through more than his fair share of problems, and he has built his reputation on being calm and in control.

In 2016, Van der Bellen beat a far-right opponent in a much closer race. In 2017, the conservative People’s Party and the FPO formed a coalition government, which Van der Bellen swore into office. However, the government fell apart in 2019 after the leader of the FPO was secretly filmed offering to fix state contracts.

Sebastian Kurz, a well-known conservative, quit as chancellor a year ago because of corruption claims that he denies. Since then, Van der Bellen has sworn in two more right-wing chancellors.

Rosenkranz talked about immigration, law and order, and criticising Brussels at his last rally. He said that Van der Bellen was the candidate of “the system” and the political establishment.

Rosenkranz, who is 60 years old, said in a speech so long that news stations cut it off before the end, “I have a funny feeling that there will be a run-off.”

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