In 2016, Austria attracted media attention. Presidential elections in the country were not without scandal and re-election. Everything ended peacefully and within the framework of the law. The loser in the second round, the politician admitted defeat, he called on the citizens of the country to unite and work together.
Head of state in a political structure
The state is a parliamentary republic in which the constitution for 1920 is in force. The head is considered the president of Austria. His powers are to represent the state in the international arena, sign treaties, appoint and dismiss the chancellor, dissolve the National Council and the Landtag. He also commands the armed forces of the country.
The head of state is elected for a six-year term. Moreover, the same person cannot be president for more than twelve years.
President of 2004-2016
Before the 2016 elections, Heinz Fischer was in power for twelve years. He was born on 10/09/1938. He received his law degree from the University of Vienna. The future president came to parliament in 1971. In the eighties of the twentieth century, he was the Minister of Science, and since 1993 a professor of political science.
In 2004, Fisher became the head of state. Having won the election, he suspended his membership in the PSD. It is customary in the country that the President of Austria fulfill his functions objectively. Therefore, Fisher decided to be a "supra-party president."
In 2009, the politician again stood as a candidate. The election took place in 2010, in which Fisher won, receiving an overwhelming number of votes. A little over seventy-nine percent of voters voted for him. At the same time, the lowest voter turnout was recorded, which amounted to about fifty-three percent.
2016 Elections and Re-Elections
The President of Austria is elected on the basis of the constitution, the 1971 law, as amended. Government sets voting day. Citizens over the age of sixteen take part in the elections.
The candidate who has collected more than half of the votes is elected. In the absence of a majority, an additional round is held after four weeks. Two candidates with the most votes following the results of the first round take part in it.
Since 1982, a law has been in force, according to which only one candidate can participate in the elections. In this case, they are held in the form of a referendum. The law was prescribed in case the incumbent president becomes the only candidate. Similar precedents have not yet arisen. In 2007, the method of voting by mail was legalized.
In 2011, the 1919 law was repealed, according to which representatives of the Habsburg dynasty are not eligible to apply for president .
Candidates for the post of head of state in 2016:
- Alexander van der Bellen;
- Irmgard Griss;
- Norbert Hofer;
- Rudolph Hundstorfer;
- Andreas Kohl;
- Richard Lugner.
Voting Results
According to the results of the first round, Hofer and van der Bellen received the most votes. They took part in the second round, which ended in scandal and subsequent appeal. Since July 08, 2016, Fischer’s presidency expired, so the speaker of parliament and his two deputies became the interim head of state.
The re-election took place in December 2016. As a result of the second round, as well as re-election, Van der Bellen won.
Officially, the President of Austria took office on 01/26/2017. 72-year-old politics is known to be the leader of the Green Party, but he participated in the elections as an independent center-left candidate. His ancestors from his father from the late seventeenth century until 1919 lived in Russia. Parents for a long time lived in Austria as refugees and spoke Russian, although the politician himself does not speak Russian.