Austria holds early polls after collapse of left-right coalition

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VIENNA, Sept 28 (AFP): Polls opened Sunday in Austria in early general elections that were expected to see the far-right gain ground, after the collapse of the left-right coalition that had been in power for less than two years.
According to the latest opinion polls, the Social Democrats (SPOe) were slightly ahead with 26-29 percent of votes, compared to the conservative People's Party (OeVP) with 25-27 percent.
But days before the election, some 30 percent of the 6.3 million eligible voters were still undecided, according to a Gallup poll published Saturday.
And this, along with the leading parties' poorest scores since the end of World War II, could benefit the far-right, analysts predicted.
The far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) was in third place with 17-19 percent support, far ahead of the environmentalist Greens with 11-12 percent.
Meanwhile, Joerg Haider's maverick far-right Alliance for Austria's Future (BZOe) could count on eight percent, bringing the total far-right level with the Social Democrats and conservatives.
The left-right coalition collapsed in July after barely 18 months in power with the now infamous catchphrase "enough is enough," uttered by Deputy Chancellor and OeVP leader Wilhelm Molterer.
The government under Social Democrat Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer had proved incapable of passing even the simplest projects, often resorting to quarreling and bickering instead.
But the final straw came when Gusenbauer and new SPOe leader Werner Faymann called, in an open letter to the tabloid Kronen Zeitung, for all future EU decisions to be submitted to a referendum, effectively reversing government policy.
Molterer, who has the charisma of a small-town librarian with his neatly trimmed beard and fuddy-duddy suits, has little chance of securing the most votes on Sunday, observers say.
But the eternally-smiling Faymann, who replaced soft Gusenbauer as party leader in June, has failed to bring his party over the 30-percent mark despite leading the popularity charts since the start of the campaign, paving the way for a far-right progression.
In a last-minute bid to demonstrate their decision-making abilities, the various parties agreed on Wednesday a package of new laws -- expected to cost some three billion euros (4.38 billion dollars) -- raising family aid and pensions and abolishing university tuition fees.