Austrians to cast ballots at legislative elections

Austrian citizens will go to polls on Sunday to elect the members of the National Council (Nationalrat), the lower house of the Austrian Parliament, which might result in a coalition government, including the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPO), Sputnik reported.

Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz called for a snap election after being chosen as the new leader of the conservative Austrian People's Party (OVP) in May amid tensions with a coalition partner, the left-wing Social Democratic Party (SPO). The foreign minister, who at 31 may become one of the youngest European leaders in modern history if his party wins the election, also announced that he would replace the regular OVP constituency selection process with a list of independent candidates backed by the party.