VIENNA – Austrians vote in a snap parliamentary election that conservative leader Sebastian Kurz looks set to win but he will still need a coalition partner to secure a majority.
The election on Sunday follows the collapse in May of Kurz’s coalition with far-right Freedom Party (FPO) after a video sting scandal that forced FPO vice chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache to step down.
Kurz, 33, has emerged unscathed from the scandal, even gaining voters from the FPO as its support has slipped to roughly a fifth of the electorate from just over a quarter in the last vote in 2017. On the left, there has been some shift in support from the Social Democrats to the resurgent Greens.
Kurz said he will talk to all parties after the election if he wins.(Reuters)
