Beaten Haider may retain key to power

Less than three years after the far-right Freedom Party and its firebrand central figure, Jörg Haider, sent shock waves through Europe, they suffered a humiliation in the Austrian general elections yesterday, but could still return to power.

The anti-immigration, anti-establishment and Eurosceptical party's support dropped to just over 10 per cent of the vote, down from the 27 per cent gained in 1999, according to preliminary results.

But in a surprise result, the party's senior coalition partner, the conservative People's Party, registered massive gains. Far from being punished for a coalition pact with Mr Haider in 2000 that provoked European Union sanctions against Austria, Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel saw support rise from 27 per cent in 1999 to 42 per cent. But while Mr Schüssel's party reaped the rewards of shifting its policies to the right, it did not do well enough to govern without a partner and that might have to be what is left of the Freedom Party. Last night Mr Schüssel indicated he was open to renewing the coalition.

Contrary to opinion polls that had put the two mainstream parties neck and neck, the Social Democrats picked up only 2 per cent more than in 1999. Most of those who converted to the right three years ago stayed with the right, suggesting that hostility to immigration and to EU expansion still has powerful appeal. The Greens lifted their support only slightly to 9 per cent.

While the losses suffered by the Freedom Party might have been consoling to most Austrians, the overall result left Austria with the same problems that this snap election was supposed to solve. One option is a new centre-right/far-right coalition, from which those Freedom Party representatives with overt racist views are excluded.

The two mainstream parties could in theory form a "grand coalition", a constellation that has dominated post-war Austrian politics. But that is an option Mr Schüssel's party ruled out during the election, and Social Democrat figures played it down last night. A grand coalition would in any case only restore the very conditions of bland consensus that precipitated the rise of the far right.

As the results came through the right-wing populists were putting on a brave face at the election gathering in the Kursalon concert and dance hall in the Vienna City Park. But the waiters were having trouble getting rid of the champagne. Herbert Haupt, the interim leader, described the result as a "catastrophe". Mr Haupt said that he and "no one else is responsible", and offered his resignation as party leader. But many believe Mr Haider, who was nowhere to be seen last night, is responsible for the party's downfall.This summer he instigated an internal revolt, which resulted in the resignations of three cabinet members, including the Vice-Chancellor and party head, Susanne Riess-Passer, and led to the early elections being called.

Early yesterday morning Mr Haider, 52, drove his Porsche to his polling station in the southern city of Klagenfurt, cast his vote and then sped off, telling reporters that he was "off to the mountains" for the day.

Mr Haider, who remains Governor of Carinthia, had been ready to take over the party leadership again in September, after stepping down in May 2000 amid the international protest at the party's entry into government, but changed his mind at the last minute. As the Freedom Party floundered, the People's Party stole its clothes by introducing a crackdown on refugees and poaching one of its most popular members. Voters casting their ballots at the Radetzky school in Vienna's third district were quick to point the finger of blame for the party's troubles. "Haider had already made a bit of a mess of things, but now he's become totally ridiculous," said one 55-year-old voter.