02. 03. 10. - 15:00

Strache says FPÖ presidential candidate has potential for 35 per cent

Freedom Party (FPÖ) boss Heinz-Christian Strache claimed the party’s candidate Barbara Rosenkranz had the potential to garner 35 per cent in next month’s presidential elections.

Strache argued today (Tues) that if incumbent president Heinz Fischer is seen at around 63 to 68 per cent in polls, Rosenkranz had a chance of winning support from those who will not vote for Fischer.

Fischer, a former Social Democratic (SPÖ) president of the federal parliament, took office in 2004 after beating Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the candidate of the People’s Party (ÖVP). He announced in November he had decided to run for a second term which will last six years. Incumbent presidents are forbidden from running for a third term in office.

Strache said last weekend that Rosenkranz, who leads the party’s Lower Austrian branch, will run for president in the 25 April election. The mother-of-ten is regarded as a representative of the right-wing party’s ultra-conservative wing. Strache nevertheless claimed he saw good chances she could win votes from conservatives after the ÖVP announced last week it would not nominate its own candidate.

The Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) – a right-wing party founded by late FPÖ chief Jörg Haider in 2005 – and the Greens decided not to nominate candidates either.

Greens deputy head Maria Vassilakou announced today her party would not back a candidate, adding supporters of the Greens were "responsible enough" to make their own decision.

Analysts see strong support for Fischer among people supporting the Greens in provincial and federal elections.

Greens leader Eva Glawischnig said the party had decided to focus on the upcoming provincial elections in Burgenland, Styria and Vienna.

Another reason for the two opposition parties not nominating an own candidate could be that parties and individuals are not refunded campaign costs in presidential elections – unlike federal and provincial elections where parties are compensated expenses depending on their success.

Rosenkranz meanwhile won open support from the Kronen Zeitung, Austria’s best-selling newspaper. Its publisher Hans Dichand praised the FPÖ candidate as a "courageous mother", adding she "would be a good president".

Asked why Strache eventually decided not to run for president himself, he argued the SPÖ Vienna could have benefited from such a move. The Social Democrats are, according to polls, under threat of losing their absolute majority in Vienna in autumn’s city elections, while the FPÖ is expected to celebrate strong gains.

Rosenkranz refused to comment on the FPÖ board’s decision to nominate her today.

The Austrian Jewish Community (IKG) meanwhile attacked her for failing to apologise for "permanent far-right statements by her husband".

IKG president Ariel Muzicant claimed the nomination of someone with political views like the one Rosenkranz had would spark protests in every other country in western Europe.

He added her decision to run for president was a "derision" of the 65,000 Austrian Jews who died in the Holocaust.

Heinz Fischer explained yesterday he would focus on topics such as "human dignity, respect of the federal constitution, social fairness, credibility and a peaceful development of Europe".

Asked how many percentage points of support he was hoping for, the former science minister failed to give a figure. Fischer however announced he wanted a "clear decision".

Analysts expect a landslide victory of the left-wing Social Democrat.

Lower Austrian ÖVP Governor Erwin Pröll – who has been regarded as the only candidate with a chance of challenging the incumbent president – made clear he would not run for the post last October. Pröll said he could not leave the people of Lower Austria alone "in these difficult times".