Presidential Contenders Voted Into Runoff in Austria : Election: Social Democrat and People’s Party choices take lead. Rightist Freedom Party sees drop in support.

VIENNA — After six years of diplomatic isolation under Kurt Waldheim, Austrians voted Sunday for a new president to usher their neutral Alpine country into the European Community.

None of the four candidates won the absolute majority necessary for victory, and a runoff election between the two front-runners was scheduled for May 24.

Social Democrat Rudolf Streicher, 53, the ex-transport minister and an orchestra conductor in his free time, finished first with 40.8% of the vote.

Trailing Streicher was Thomas Klestil, a senior Foreign Ministry official and ambassador to the United States during the Waldheim scandal. The 59-year-old representative of the conservative People’s Party took 37.1% of the vote.

Falling by the wayside were Greens candidate Robert Jungk, who campaigned against joining the European Community, and Heide Schmidt, a lawyer from the Freedom Party led by controversial right-wing populist Joerg Haider. Schmidt took 16.4% of the vote, while Jungk won 5.7%.

About 84% of the 5.6 million eligible voters cast ballots. Voting for president is considered mandatory in several states, and those who refuse face fines.

The results signaled another slight dip in popularity for the Freedom Party, whose 42-year-old leader was forced to resign as governor of Corinthia after praising the employment policies of the Third Reich.

Haider’s strong anti-immigration stance and harsh criticism of Austria’s entrenched cronyism in mainstream politics have made him a rising star of the right.

Party spokesman Richard Voithofer said in an interview last week that anything less than 16.6% for Schmidt would constitute “a failure” for the party.

Austria is governed by a coalition of the Social Democrats and the People’s Party, which backed Waldheim in 1986. The two parties have dominated government since the end of World War II.

Political analysts see Haider as a potential threat to the coalition, particularly in the fall, when the new budget is debated and alliances are fragile. New national elections are scheduled for 1994 but could come earlier if the coalition falters.

Waldheim and his shunning are considered taboo topics in Austria and did not become an open campaign issue. However, the isolation was obliquely referred to through speeches and placards promising to claim Austria’s rightful place on the world stage.

There was no immediate comment from Waldheim following Sunday’s vote.

The 73-year-old former U.N. secretary general became a virtual pariah after disclosures that he had concealed his wartime activities as a young lieutenant in the German army.

No evidence was found directly linking Waldheim to Nazi war crimes, but an international commission of historians found in 1988 that he must have at least known about atrocities his unit committed in the Balkans. Waldheim has denied any wrongdoing.

Diplomats privately acknowledge that the boycott against Waldheim, while embarrassing, had little effect on Austria’s foreign and economic ties.

And while even his political rivals still insist that Waldheim was unfairly treated, his decision not to run for reelection was met with a general sense of relief.

Although the presidency is a largely ceremonial post here, the head of state is expected to help smooth the way for Austria’s entry into the 12-nation European Community in the mid-’90s.

During his tenure, Western European leaders refused to receive Waldheim or pay official visits to Vienna. The United States placed Waldheim on its “watch list,” permanently banning him from entering the country.

Waldheim’s departure from public life “means Austria can breathe easier,” one Western diplomat said.