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02. 10. 09. - 15:00

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02. 10. 09. - 15:00

'Hero' Haider left his flock with insurmountable problems

Analysis by Thomas Hochwarter

The party Jörg Haider founded is still unsettled about its political direction one year after the right-wing icon passed away.

Pundits gave the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) little chance of success in last September’s general elections. Pollsters said the party might even fail to get into parliament, unable to get the five per cent it needed to do so.

Coverage of the campaigns focused on Heinz-Christian Strache – who took over as leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ) after Jörg Haider and the party’s government ministers left to found the BZÖ in 2005 – and his campaign was criticised as being "xenophobic" and "hostile towards minorities " by political opponents and various NGOs.

But then Haider announced he would campaign as the BZÖ’s front runner, stressing however at the same time he would not leave his post as governor of Carinthia to make a comeback in federal politics – unless there was a chance he could become Vice Chancellor.

Pollsters saw the BZÖ at around just five to six per cent after Haider’s vague statement – but the party garnered a sensational 10.7 per cent on 28 September.

Rejoining a government coalition was impossible since the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the People’s Party (ÖVP) made clear they would form a "grand coalition" again. But the BZÖ was back on the political landscape again. And Haider – a man who sparked international outrage by praising the Nazi’s labour policies as "decent" – raised eyebrows by supporting liberal and almost socialist viewpoints.

But things took a much more dramatic turn after the events of 11 October when the 58-year-old died in a car crash near the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt. An autopsy report revealed that Haider – who told his chauffeur he could take off early the night before – was more than two times over the drink-drive limit and driving at high speed failed to stop some of the most bizarre conspiracy theories of all times.

And there were slightly less bizarre developments such as the announcement of plans for a museum honouring the man, hailed as a national hero by some, which would display, among many other objects, his running shoes.

The fact that a book "investigating" theories regarding the cause of his death became a number-one bestseller was less surprising than the BZÖ’s decision to name Haider’s spokesman and close friend Stefan Petzner its new leader – despite a tearful speech at a press conference held hours after Haider died before the more experienced Josef Bucher was quickly introduced to replace him.

Petzner however continued to make headlines – by revealing he would leave politics to take on a job in public relations, while claiming at the same time it was his goal to become Mayor of Vienna in the future. He said high targets had to be set to do great things.

And now – while the BZÖ in Carinthia is busy preparing mourning ceremonies for their icon – the party has reached an essential parting of ways: will it continue campaigning its new-found liberal policies introduced by Haider in his last months – or will it remember the FPÖ’s dramatic rise under Haider and swerve to the far right, currently the "playground" of FPÖ leader Strache?

The BZÖ’s bids for a reunion with the FPÖ after Haider died were snubbed by their right-wing competitors who called the BZÖ and Haider "traitors who tried to erase the FPÖ."

After three bitter election defeats in a row – the BZÖ failed to enter the European Parliament in June before losing out in this month’s provincial elections in Vorarlberg and Upper Austria where Haider’s sister Ursula Haubner campaigned as the party’s front runner – the BZÖ is about to create a new party manifesto.

Its leader Josef Bucher, who wants to "position us as the Austrian FDP" with the German Free Democratic Party acting as its new role model, is facing harsh criticism, especially in the party’s main stronghold Carinthia, where governor Gerhard Dörfler is refusing to abandon his far-right policies.

Dörfler is set to continue being a pain in the neck for Bucher. The Carinthian governor caused public amusement and an odd debate this summer when he claimed that "an upright Socialist is worth more than an insincere Strache".

Dörfler made the claim during a joint TV interview with FPÖ boss Heinz-Christian Strache they were tempted to give on a celeb & lifestyle TV programme during Klagenfurt’s Beach Volleyball Grand Slam tournament. Needless to say, Dörfler surely diminished the small chances of his party succeeding in next year’s Vienna council election, while Strache’s FPÖ is, again, tipped to be a big winner.

Leaving these embarrassing, quite "typically Austrian" footnotes aside, the main question will be whether the BZÖ dares to leave the right-wing political scene all to the FPÖ which is feared for its highly effective and rather aggressive election campaigns.

Strache’s party is riding high by successfully convincing former supporters of the Social Democrats their problems are taken more seriously by them. That they succeed by doing nothing else than giving simple answers to complex problems – soaring unemployment, soaring crime figures and, last but not least, immigration issues – does not need to be pointed out.

Both FPÖ and BZÖ claim to be the only true heirs to Haider’s legacy. But when it comes to cleverness in dealing with media – and managing to promote totally different policies from time to time while continuing to be regarded a trustworthy personality by supporters – a worthy successor to Haider is not in sight.

Austrian Times

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