President of Austria Wins Reelection Easily
Thomas Klestil won reelection to Austria’s presidency by a landslide Sunday.
The former diplomat garnered just over 63% of the vote, the second-best result achieved by a presidential candidate in postwar Austria, according to early returns.
The 65-year-old Klestil was the runaway favorite in a campaign that stirred little enthusiasm, mostly because the six-year job is largely ceremonial.
He won the respect, if not the affection, of Austrians for undoing the damage to the nation’s international image caused by revelations about the role of his predecessor, Kurt Waldheim, who was alleged to have participated in Nazi atrocities during World War II.
He was given much of the credit for normalizing Austria’s relations with the rest of the world after Waldheim was ostracized by Western leaders and refused admission to the United States.
The big prize in Austrian politics is still a year away--the general elections that will pick the next chancellor, Austria’s equivalent of prime minister. Viktor Klima is the incumbent.
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