via: Kawther

Ing. Norbert Hofer, 45, anti-immigration candidate of the Freedom Party won Austria’s Presidential election with 51.9 percent of the vote, referring to official data from the Ministry of the Interior states. The figures could change when postal ballots are counted on Monday.

The Ministry states that Green Party candidate Alexander van der Bellen, 74, gathered only 48.1 percent of the ballots cast.

For the first time since the Second World War, the main parties in Austria, socialist party (SPÖ) and Christian Democrats (ÖVP), were eliminated in the first round of elections on April 22 2016.

The defeated parties in alliance with the Muslim minorities in Austria have backed strongly Prof. Alexander van der Bellen in the second round of election.

The Freedom Party ran an anti-immigration campaign for the Austrian presidency which argues for tougher rules on asylum seekers and protecting Austria’s borders. About 90,000 foreigners asked for asylum in Austria since the last year, equivalent to about 1% of the Austrian population.

The presidency in Austria is a largely ceremonial post. The president has limited power, but a victory for Mr Hofer could be the springboard for Freedom Party success in the next parliamentary elections, scheduled for 2018.

The Freedom party is one of Europe’s best-established nationalist parties. In 2000, under Jörg Haider, its charismatic leader who died in a high-speed car crash in 2008, the party entered into a coalition government with the Christian Democrats – prompting other European countries to try to ostracise Austria.