‘Encrusted’ systemStrache suggested on Sunday that the increased turnout seen in the runoff showed that other parties had rallied around Van der Bellen to keep out his party’s candidate. Sixty per cent of men voted for Hofer and an equal number of women for Van der Bellen. Hofer’s party is allied with Marine Le Pen’s National Front, the Dutch anti-Islam Freedom Party led by Geert Wilders and the Alternative for Germany party. “The effort that went into this campaign isn’t lost but is an investment in the future.”Victory for Van der Bellen puts a breakthrough for right-wing populists across Europe on hold. Austria elected economics professor Alexander Van der Bellen the country’s next president by a razor-thin margin, foiling Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer’s bid to become the first far-right head of state in western Europe since World War II.

Source: thestar May 23, 2016 10:10 UTC