Vienna - After Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer stepped down as head of the Social Democratic Party (SPOe) this summer amid dismal approval ratings, it was easy for new party leader Werner Faymann to position himself as a more likeable top candidate for the elections.

But besides his image as an "ideal son-in-law," as Austrians put it, the 48-year-old transport minister also has the support of the country's biggest newspaper, the tabloid Kronen Zeitung.

Faymann, who broke off his law studies to become a professional politician, is seen as being closer to the common people than his predecessor Gusenbauer.

In late August, he announced a package of social government spending and tax reductions, most of which he saw through parliament mere days before the elections.

Before the current election campaign, he kept a low profile and was known mainly to the Vienna public as their former city councillor responsible for housing.

In that position, he built close ties with Hans Dichand, the powerful publisher of the Kronen Zeitung which is highly critical of the European Union.

The paper, which reaches over 40 per cent of the Austrian market, threw its full weight behind the social democratic candidate after it published his open letter calling for public polls on further EU treaties.

Even though several of Faymann's fellow party members criticized him for pandering to populist sentiments, the open letter resonated in a country where 47 per cent of the population think Austria has not benefited from being an EU member.

The conservative Austrian People's Party (OeVP) broke off the governing coalition with the SPOe over the letter and called for new elections. (dpa)