In an amazing development the Constitutional Court of Austria has overturned the country’s Presidential election results, which saw independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen narrowly edge out far-right candidate Norbert Hofer. The verdict came only a week before the the victorious candidate was due to be sworn into office. The court president, Gerhart Holzinger, announced on Friday that the run-off vote between Norbert Hofer of the populist rightwing Freedom party and Green-backed Alexander Van der Bellen would have to be repeated across the whole country after an investigation had revealed irregularities in the count of the vote in several constituencies.
In May, Hofer had lost out to Van der Bellen in a knife-edge election, with a majority of only 30,863 votes.
While the Austrian presidency is a largely ceremonial role, the outcome has been seen as hugely symbolic, with the Freedom party seemingly buoyed by growing anti-refugee sentiments and disaffection with the country’s political establishment.