Austria: Austria's far-right Freedom Party was projected to have won 11 per cent of the vote in regional elections yesterday in the capital Vienna, after an aggressive anti-Turkish campaign, according to ORF, the state television network.
This was only slightly more than its vote in the last city parliament election in 2001, but exceeded the 9 per cent forecast in pre-election opinion polls.
The projection was based on 1,500 election-day interviews conducted by pollster OGM.
Almost 1.2 million Viennese were entitled to vote, but mild, sunny weather led to a low turnout, ORF's pollsters said.
The Union for Austria's Future, founded by Jörg Haider after he quit the Freedom Party, which he had led to become Austria's second-largest party, secured only 1 per cent of the vote - less than the Communist Party - ORF reported.
The Social Democrats, led by mayor Michael Häupl, reached 52 per cent in the projection, five points more than four years ago, putting the largest opposition party on track for its third big win in as many regional elections this month.
Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel's People's Party was projected to increase its vote slightly to 18 per cent, ahead of the Green Party, which was estimated to have polled 16 per cent.
- (Reuters)