The right's record showing heralded political instability in the affluent Alpine republic since the two main centrist parties will be hard put to re-establish a broad coalition even if they resolve the feuds that killed off their last alliance.
"Terrible," political analyst Anton Pelinka said of prospects for stable government in the near future.
"The strength of the far-right parties will make formation of a coalition incredibly difficult if you don't bring either into government," he told Reuters. Social Democrats have ruled out an alliance with the right over its anti-foreigner stances.
Preliminary official results showed the center-left Social Democrats at 30 percent and the conservative Peoples Party at 26 percent, down from 35 and 34 percent respectively in 2006.
It was the worst showing for both since World War Two.
But by retaining their status as the largest single party, the Social Democrats under Werner Faymann are expected to be asked by Austria's president to form the next government.
Heinz-Christian Strache's far right Freedom Party scored 18 percent, compared with 11 percent two years ago, while Joerg Haider's right-wing populist Alliance for Austria's Future was on 11 percent, almost tripling its vote haul in 2006.
Republished permission FOCUS Information Agency
Published by Mike Hitchen, Mike Hitchen Consulting
