Spotlight: Green party-backed candidate narrowly beats right-wing in Austrian presidential election

Austrians rejected a possible right-wing president in the 2016 presidential election.

Alexander Van der Bellen, backed by the Green party was elected to be the next president by a narrow margin, according to Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka's announcement on Monday.

In the neck-and-neck race, Van der Bellen got 50.3 percent of the ballot, only 31,026 votes more than the 49.7 percent votes garnered by Norbert Hofer of Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPO). The intense breathtaking presidential election was closely followed in Austria and abroad.

Van der Bellen was born in Vienna in 1944. His grandfather was a politician who once lived in Russia but left the country with family to settle in Austria.

In 1976, he was appointed associate professor at the University of Innsbruck and then became professor of economics at the University of Vienna.

Van der Bellen started his career as a politician by joining the Social Democratic Party (SPO), but he switched to the green party, became its chief, then resigned after the September 2008 election.

In 2010, he became commissioner of the City of Vienna for Universities and Research.

Van der Bellen is the first environmental activist to become Austrian president, and will be the first president of the state since WWII not backed by mainstream political parties.

Austria's president is seen as a ceremonial role but swears in the chancellor and can dismiss the cabinet -- powers not been used by presidents since the world wars.

Meanwhile, Norbert Hofer conceded defeat.

Hofer said in his Facebook account: "I will remain loyal to you (the public) and make a contribution to a positive Austria. Please do not be discouraged, the use of this election campaign is not lost but an investment for the future."

Current Austrian President Heinz Fischer joined numerous domestic and international leaders and officials in congratulating his successor Alexander Van der Bellen.

Fischer said he is convinced the former Greens party leader will meet the challenges he will face in his new role.

"A main component of this will be to both unite and to represent all Austrians, particularly where differences of opinion are to be found," he said, adding he "absolutely" trusts Van der Bellen to be able to do.

Fischer invited Van der Bellen for talks on Tuesday. The official handing over of office between the two will take place on July 8.

RESULT REVEALS SPLIT OF NATION IN ELECTION

With FPO only narrowly losing in the presidential election on Monday, the result revealed the split of the nation of Austria in the election and marked a strong increase in support for the right wing party that some fear could resonate further into Europe.

Both Hofer and FPO leader Heinz-Christian Strache appeared to remain upbeat following the confirmation of the result.

Strache called Hofer an equal "winner" with almost 50 percent of the vote, saying the FPO would continue on the path it has taken. "This is just the beginning, the beginning of a new democratic-political age," he said.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD), a party similar to FPO, also appeared buoyed by the FPO effort, with party official Joerg Meuthen calling the result "outstanding."

Although Austrians succeeded in rejecting a possible right wing party president in the election, it is clear that there has been growing support for right wing parties in Austria and in Europe in recent years, according to analysts.

Under the dominant main strain parties coalition in the small central European state, FPO has been living at the fringe of Austria politic map for a long time but seems to become a star in the spotlight in resent years. It unprecedentedly won in the first round of the presidential election. The regional election also saw a rapid growth of number of supporters for the right wing party.

Over the past years, the slow economic growth and rising jobless rate in European states disappointed many Austrian people who placed hope upon the resolution that the European Union (EU) could provide. The eurozone crisis also made some people skeptical of the necessity of the ruling coalition in Austria.

Right wing parties' propaganda saying the country needs a solution within the Austrian nation rather than follows "the EU's dictate" meets the psychological needs of many people.

Since last summer, the migrant crisis in Europe somehow revealed the low efficiency and the lack of coordination among the governments of EU member states, making people more worried about their security under the border opening policy.

According to analysts, Monday's election result shows that although no one seems to find the answer to the tough issues facing Austria, the voters who get tired with the current government coalition start to turn to the anti-migrant and Eurosceptic right wing party to search for a possible change of the situation.

RACE TO CATCH-UP SECURES VAN DER BELLEN PRESIDENCY

Hofer went into the presidential runoff with an advance of 14 percentage points. Van der Bellen managed to overtake Hofer shortly following an unprecedented mobilization in the political camps of the eliminated candidates.

The victory of Van der Bellen in the runoff owes a lot to the voters of the independent candidate Irmgard Griss, according to some analysts. The former judge supported the left-liberal candidate after her elimination in the first round of the election. Van der Bellen inherited more than 500,000 votes from her. Only about 200,000 former voters of Griss supported FPO-candidate Hofer in the runoff.

Van der Bellen also scored in the political camp of the failed SPO-candidate Rudolf Hundstorfer. About two-thirds of the former voters of the candidate of the chancellor-party opted for Van der Bellen, according to analysts. The new chancellor Christian Kern as well as the powerful mayor of Vienna Michael Haupl from the SPO proclaimed to give their vote to the former leader of the Green Party Van der Bellen.

The conservative ruling party OVP abstained from making any recommendations for the runoff. However, three former party chairmen of the OVP supported Van der Bellen.

Another important factor for the win of Van der Bellen was the resignation of Chancellor Werner Faymann two weeks ago. The unpopular SPO-leader was the main target for Hofers attacks during the election campaign. With the announced restart with the new Chancellor Christian Kern, some protest voters lost their motive to vote for Hofer.

Nevertheless, nearly half of the Austrians did not want Van der Bellen as the next president. The danger of a split through the Austrian society is present, and to bridge the ideological divides among people and unite the country will be a major task facing the newly-elected president of Austria. Endit