Austria: Death of far-right leader - full text
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The death on Oct. 11 in a car crash of Jörg Haider, leader of the right-wing nationalist Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ), threw into confusion the process of coalition formation after elections held on Sept. 28. The BZÖ, an offshoot of the rightist Freedom Party (FPÖ), had more than doubled its share of the vote, mirroring the success of other rightist parties in the election.
Immediate context
The early general election on Sept. 28 produced sweeping gains for the far-right anti-EU, anti-immigration parties at the expense of the two mainstream parties in the ruling left-right coalition, which suffered their worst ever election result since World War II.
In preliminary results indicated that the senior ruling Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) won the highest number of votes with just over 29 per cent, while the junior coalition conservative People's Party (ÖVP) came second with just over 25 per cent, both parties having seen their share of the vote fall. The far-right FPÖ gained almost 7 percentage points to win just over 18 per cent of the vote, while Haider's BZÖ saw its vote leap from some 4 per cent to nearly 11 per cent. The far right's combined share of the vote increased to almost 29 per cent, compared with some 15 per cent in 2006. It was the FPÖ's best result since 1999, when it narrowly outpolled the ÖVP.
The snap election had been called when the ruling left-right coalition collapsed acrimoniously on July 7 after only 18 months in office. Wilhelm Molterer, leader of the junior coalition conservative ÖVP, who was also vice-chancellor and finance minister, said that he could no longer work with Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer's senior ruling SPÖ. ÖVP leader Gusenbauer had unexpectedly become Chancellor in January 2007 after the SPÖ won a surprise victory in a general election in October 2006.
Locked in an uneasy 'grand coalition', the two parties had repeatedly clashed over a range of policies, including the EU, health service reforms, taxes, and pensions. The SPÖ had conceded senior cabinet posts to the ÖVP and relinquished key election promises under the coalition agreement with its junior partner. Unpopular within his own ranks for being too soft towards the ÖVP, Gusenbauer had struggled to manage the unruly coalition and on June 16 was replaced as SPÖ leader by Infrastructure Minister Werner Faymann.
Reaction and outlook
The election result was seen as a reflection of voter frustration with the fractious governing coalition. Voters' concern at the looming economic downturn, inflation, and immigration, and the government's perceived inability to tackle such issues allowed the far right to make significant gains. With no party gaining an absolute majority, a new government coalition would need at least 92 seats in 183-seat Nationalrat (the lower house of the bicameral legislature).
The shape of any future coalition was hard to predict, with the sudden death of Haider adding to the uncertainty. Analysts warned that any revamped left-right coalition would have to differ significantly from the previous administration if it were to win the confidence of a jaded electorate. Commentators regarded the alternative option of a right-wing ÖVP-FPÖ coalition as a last resort. The inclusion of the far-right FPÖ in a coalition government with the ÖVP in 2000 had made Austria an international 'pariah', drawing EU protests and sanctions.
The resurrection of the previous SPÖ-ÖVP grand coalition was thought more likely after the ÖVP on Sept. 29 replaced its leader, Molterer, with Agriculture Minister Josef Pröll, who, unlike Molterer, had a good rapport with SPÖ leader Faymann.
Historical context
Inhabited since prehistoric times, Austria was invaded through the Danube valley by a succession of tribes including the Celts, Romans, Vandals, Visigoths, Huns, Avars, and Slavs. In the late 8th century, the area was conquered by Emperor Charlemagne, King of the Franks, who in 803 established a territory in the Danube valley and encouraged its Christianisation and colonisation. In 976, the territory was bequeathed to the House of Babenberg and later called the Ostmark (Eastern March) or Ostarrichi (Austria). Ambitious builders, the Babenbergs transformed Austria into a centre of medieval culture, of which Vienna in 1156 became the capital.
In 1276, the Habsburg family gained control of Austria, contributing greatly to the expansion of Austrian territories through marriages of convenience. In 1526, Bohemia and Hungary were united under the Austrian Crown. In response to the militant demands of Hungarian nationalism, the Habsburgs in 1867 formed the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary, stoking nationalism amongst other ethnic groups under their rule. The very diverse Austro-Hungarian Empire, which constituted one of the world's major powers at that time, included German, Czech, Serbian, and southern Italian territories.
Following the Habsburgs' annexation in 1908 of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was on June 28, 1914, assassinated by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo (the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina). On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary, with German support, declared war on Serbia. Russia immediately mobilised its forces in defence of Serbia, sparking a declaration of war by Germany and the subsequent outbreak of World War I. Following the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire split up into many small countries, the Habsburg reign ending in 1918, when Austria was proclaimed a republic.
The new republic suffered inflation, unemployment and the loss of a national identity, which led to an upsurge in nationalist politics. In February 1933, an Austrian National Socialist (Nazi) spokesman at a rally in Vienna, called for the immediate union of Austria with Germany after Adolf Hitler, an Austrian, became German chancellor. Austrian Christian Socialist Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss, whose chancellorship was strained by his inability to control the Nazis or to co-operate with the Social Democrats, established a semi-dictatorial regime in March 1933. In June 1933, the Dollfuss cabinet ordered the dissolution of the Nazi party and the banning of all Nazi symbols and uniforms. In February 1934, Dollfuss crushed a Social Democrat revolt but was assassinated in July 1934 during an abortive attempt by the Nazis to seize power. Despite efforts by new Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg to maintain Austrian independence, Austria in June 1936 acknowledged itself to be a German state. In March 1938 the German army occupied the country and incorporated it into the German Reich in the Anschluss (union). Following Germany's defeat by the Allied Powers marking the end of World War II in Europe, Austria was in May 1945 occupied by the UK, France, the USA, and the Soviet Union.
In May 1955 Austria again became an independent, sovereign, and neutral state. In a national referendum in Austria in 1994, just over 66 per cent of the electorate voted in favour of Austria's accession to the EU.
Two major political parties dominated the Austrian political landscape after World War II: the conservative Austrian People's Party (Österreichische Volkspartei - ÖVP), and the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Austria (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs - SPÖ). In 1945, representatives of the former Christian Social Party, which had governed Austria in the inter-war period, founded the ÖVP. The Socialist Party of Austria (Sozialistische Partei Österreichs - SPÖ), which was founded in 1889 and banned in 1934 for its Marxist views, was also re-established in 1945, changing its name in 1991 to the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ). The two parties had ruled the country, either singly, or as part of a 'grand coalition', since 1945.
After two decades of coalition governments, the ÖVP won an absolute majority in the 1966 general election and formed Austria's first post-war single-party government. In March 1970, the SPÖ won a narrow majority, ruling the country as a single-party government under the chancellorship of Bruno Kreisky until 1983.
When in March 1983, the SPÖ lost its majority, the new SPÖ leader Alfred (Fred) Sinowatz formed a coalition government with the then liberal Freedom Party of Austria (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs - FPÖ), the first time that the FPÖ had ever joined a federal government.
The FPÖ, initially known as the Liberal Party, was formed in 1955 by the union of three right-wing groups, of which the largest was the League of Independents (Verband der Unabhngigen - VdU), which had consisted of former National Socialists who had been prevented from voting after World War II. The FPÖ held its first congress in April 1956.
The controversial far-right populist politician Haider succeeded the moderate Norbert Steger as leader of the junior coalition FPÖ in November 1986. Haider had previously praised aspects of the Nazi regime in Germany and the new SPÖ Chancellor, Franz Vranitzky, dissolved the legislature, rather than maintain a coalition with Haider's party. An early general election saw the departure of the FPÖ from government and the formation of an SPÖ-ÖVP coalition.
Nevertheless, under the influential leadership of Haider, the FPÖ adopted a number of far-right policies, increasing its percentage of votes from 4.9 per cent in 1983 to 26.9 per cent in 1999, when it outpolled the ÖVP.
In February 2000, the FPÖ again entered government in a controversial coalition with the ÖVP that sparked outrage in the international community.
After the FPÖ lost more than 50 per cent of its support in municipal elections in March 2005, Haider in April 2005 left the party to form the less radical right-wing Alliance for the Future of Austria (Bündnis für die Zukunft Österreichs - BZÖ), taking the FPÖ's cabinet members with him. The BZÖ thus replaced the FPÖ in the ruling coalition. Heinz-Christian Strache was elected new FPÖ leader. Under Strache's leadership, the FPÖ continued to pursue a far-right, anti-immigration, anti-EU agenda.
More moderate than the FPÖ, the BZÖ was unable to muster a similar level of support, only just gaining parliamentary representation with some 4 per cent of the vote in 2006. Initially led by Haider, the party in June 2006 elected Peter Westentaler as its new leader following Haider's resignation. After Westentaler was found guilty of perjury in a trial involving his former bodyguard, Haider in August 2008 again took over the leadership of the party he had founded.
