Austrian far-right figurehead Joerg Haider's Freedom Party looked set to win a surprise victory in an election in the Alpine province of Carinthia, according to early returns.
Haider hopes to remain governor of his stronghold province. Analysts have said a good result for his troubled party after a string of electoral defeats would reinforce his power base there and could herald his return to prominence in Austrian politics.
The partial count reported on Austrian state television, based on 26.9 percent of votes cast, showed Haider's party had won 42.7 percent of the vote to the Socialist Party's 38.4 percent.
Pollsters had forecast a second-place finish for the Freedom Party. The early count contrasted strongly with results in two other states last September, when the party won less than 10 percent of votes.
Polls showed Haider's allies 10 points behind the Socialists six months ago. The Freedom Party won 42 percent in the same ballot in 1999.
"We have to obtain a respectable result," Haider told reporters after casting his ballot on Sunday. Asked what would be respectable, he said: "35 (percent) or more".
While the result boosts Haider's authority in his party and in Vienna, few expect a return to his heyday of four years ago, when the charismatic nationalist who has praised Nazi employment policy and Saddam Hussein stunned Europe by taking his anti-immigration Freedom Party into the national government.
Haider then swiftly quit as party chairman after EU partners imposed diplomatic sanctions on conservative Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel's coalition. He has remained a power behind the scenes but the party has slumped in national popularity.
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