Freedom Party election blow

Haider's election campaign was denounced as anti-Semitic

Austria's far-right Freedom Party has done badly in local elections in the capital, Vienna.

The party's leading figure, Joerg Haider, ran a campaign which had been widely criticised as racist and anti-Semitic.

With 90% of votes counted, the Freedom Party' support was almost 8% lower than in the previous election, at 20.3%.

Anti-Haider feeling is running high

The ballot was the biggest popularity test for the Freedom Party since it joined a national coalition with Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel's conservative People's Party 13 months ago.

The big winner was Vienna's Social Democrat Mayor Michael Haeupl, who heads a coalition with the People's Party and saw his party's support jump from 39.2% five years ago to 47%.

Campaign criticised

Helene Partik-Pable, the Freedom Party's mayoral candidate, said the slump was due to the heavy criticism of the party's campaign, accused of being anti-foreigner.

Mr Haider, still seen as playing a leading role in the party despite having resigned as leader, used the campaign to launch a sustained attack on Jewish leader Ariel Muzicant, unprecedented in post-war Austria.

Ms Partik-Pable insisted that the result would have no impact on the national coalition of the Freedom Party and People's Party.

International outcry

"This will have no implication for the federal government," she said.

The Freedom Party redrew Austria's political landscape in October 1999 legislative elections, taking 27% of the vote to become the country's second biggest party.

But concerns about Joerg Haider's attitudes to racism and the Third Reich led to a huge international outcry when the far right party joined the national government.

Its support has since waned and it suffered two embarrassing defeats in elections in the provinces of Burgenland and Styria late last year.