AUSTRIA LAST HURRAHS Few smiles after a big victory

By Jill Smolowe. Reported by Gertraud Lessing/Vienna and Robert Slater/Jerusalem

Within hours of Kurt Waldheim's victory in the Austrian presidential runoff on June 8, posters reading BACK TO THE FUTURE began to sprout up around Vienna. Austrian citizens, it seemed, were eager to be done with divisive questions about Waldheim's Nazi past and to let the victorious candidate of the conservative People's Party get on with his job. It was soon apparent, however, that the analgesic effects of the decisive election would not be enough to cure Austria's headache. The very next day, Socialist Chancellor Fred Sinowatz unexpectedly resigned, vowing to devote himself to rebuilding his tattered party. His replacement: Finance Minister Franz Vranitzky. By midweek three more Socialist ministers had quit their posts, among them Foreign Minister Leopold Gratz, who refused to ''direct the Austrian foreign service in the defense of President Waldheim.'' International reaction to the electoral triumph of the former U.N. Secretary-General was not much warmer. Official congratulations were withheld by Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece and the Netherlands. President Reagan sent what his aides described as a ''correct'' message. In both the U.S. and Britain, legislators suggested that Waldheim be barred from their countries. But the sharpest protest against Waldheim's election came from Israel: Jerusalem promptly recalled its ambassador from Austria for an indefinite period. The action sharpened a painful dilemma for the Israeli government. On the one hand, Israeli leaders feel obligated to pursue an ongoing investigation into $ charges that Waldheim participated in Nazi atrocities. On the other, they fear that harsh treatment of Waldheim could jeopardize Austrian cooperation in matters like Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union. Said Prime Minister Shimon Peres: ''It's not a simple question, and there are no simple answers.'' Even Waldheim's defenders seemed less than enthusiastic. In Moscow, the Soviet news agency TASS issued a commentary accusing the U.S. and ''Zionists'' of using a ''hostile campaign'' to discredit Waldheim. The article, however, seemed directed more at smearing the U.S. and Israel than at lending support to Waldheim. The dispatch was not picked up by Moscow newspapers. Meanwhile, the President-elect set about the difficult task of trying to heal campaign wounds before his inauguration on July 8. In his first postelection press conference, Waldheim, 67, declared, ''The horror of the Holocaust must not be forgotten,'' and pledged to fight anti-Semitism. That same day, his wife Elisabeth confirmed that she had once been a Nazi. The defeated Socialist Party had its own set of problems. Although the Austrian presidency is a largely ceremonial post, and real power rests with the Chancellor and his Cabinet, Waldheim's victory was a rebuke for the Socialists, who have governed for the past 16 years. Austrians have tired of the party's political scandals, wasteful bureaucratic measures and ineffective economic policies. In response to the conservative tide sweeping Austria, the Socialist leadership has taken a step toward the center by appointing Finance Minister Vranitzky to the chancellorship. At 48, he has served in government for only two years. But as the former director-general of Austria's second- largest bank, Vranitzky is viewed as a sophisticated economist and administrator. Socialist leaders are now reassessing their goals for general elections scheduled for next spring. The Socialists are expected to try to forge a partnership with Waldheim's People's Party, renewing the popular coalition that governed Austria from 1945 to 1966. The ''back to the future'' sentiments should give Waldheim an easier time on the domestic front. By contrast, the determined efforts of war-crime investigators are likely to plague the President-elect for a long time to come.