Summary Opinion polls in the last week had the SPOe at 27-28 percent of votes and OeVP at 22-25 percent.
VIENNA (AFP) - Polls opened Sunday in Austria s general election, with the country s two-party centrist coalition likely to stay in power but possibly with their worst result ever.
A week after neighbouring Germany handed Angela Merkel s Christian Democrats 41.5 percent of votes, Austria s Social Democrats (SPOe) and conservative People s Party (OeVP) can only wish for such a result -- despite both trying to model themselves on the German chancellor.
Indeed, they might need a third party to secure a majority of seats in parliament, as they look set for their poorest election results since 1945.
Opinion polls in the last week had the SPOe at around 27-28 percent of votes and the OeVP at 22-25 percent.
"No clear alternative will emerge," political scientist Anton Pelinka told AFP.
The two parties have dominated Austrian politics since 1945, often in a so-called "grand coalition."
But many voters, looking for change, have turned to the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) and the environmental Greens, as well as new, smaller groups like The New Austria (NEOS) and Team Stronach, the party of an 81-year-old Austro-Canadian billionaire.
This is partly due to a string of recent corruption scandals that have plagued many of the main parties.
One of Europe s wealthiest countries with a notoriously high standard of living, Austria has been largely sheltered from the continent s financial woes.
Still, key campaign issues included taxes, pensions and unemployment -- even though the small alpine country has the lowest jobless rate in the European Union at 4.8 percent.
