-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- >From http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2000/474/in2.htm {{<Begin>}} Al-Ahram Weekly 23 - 29 March 2000 Issue No. 474 Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 Europe's far-right wunderkind By Tom Schimmeck He is not a member of the government, not even a party leader any more, but many still fear that Joerg Haider, a 50-year-old populist, could be Austria's next chancellor. The right-winger has worked hard on his astonishing career. Fourteen years ago, he took over a party which was barely able to win around five per cent of the Austrian vote. Since then, Haider has turned his Freedom Party into a powerful national force. He quickly stripped the organisation of all liberal elements and embarked on an unrelenting campaign centred around the leader, portraying himself as the only viable alternative to a rotten establishment. The slogan: "Simply honest, simply Joerg." A small group of faithful supporters helped him to constantly cleanse the party of critics and refine his multi-media appearance. With plenty of provocative talk, the sporty, vigorous Haider stayed in the headlines. The strikingly sun- tanned lawyer is a master of symbols, appearing in colourful ski suits, traditional costumes or designer T-shirts. He has conquered Vienna's slippery political dance floor with hiking shoes. Obsessed with fitness, the New York City Marathon is a must for Haider. In last October's election, Haider's party became the second biggest political force in Austria, winning 52 seats in the 183-seat parliament. The rise of this fast and clever wunderkind is even more remarkable since Austria has one of the most solid economies of the European Union -- with almost zero inflation, less than five per cent unemployment and a budget deficit well within the Euro- zone's required three per cent of GDP. Despite Austria's good performance, Haider has managed to create an atmosphere of fear and frustration in this small central European country he is so keen to rule. He has pointed his rhetoric persistently against the "grand coalition" of social democrats and the conservative Peoples Party which had been running Austria for 13 years -- a government Haider described as "a mixture of the Kremlin and the Vatican." After the last election, Austria's conservatives decided to stop their constant decline by leaving the "grand coalition" with the left. This is well within Haider's plan of making systematic inroads into the traditional voting blocks. First, he attacked the social democrats -- successfully turning the majority of the Austrian working class into followers of his party. Then, he shifted his attention to the middle classes, provoking the further decline of the conservatives. The lower classes are attracted by his ravings against foreigners, criminals and the state bureaucracy. The yuppies like his radical free-market approach, a late copy of Margaret Thatcher's ideas. Imitating US republicans like Newt Gingrich, Haider promised his people a "Contract with Austria." He is a turncoat, able to abandon any political position as soon as this seems to be more rewarding. He has fought endless battles over his verbal attacks in court. (One of his loyal lawyers is now Austria's minister of justice.) Although the conservative leader Wolfgang Schuessel, Austria's former foreign minister, had vowed to stay in opposition, he was eventually lured into becoming the new chancellor. Schuessel, a bouncy Catholic, made a deal with the Freedom Party, arguing that this would be the only way to keep Haider in check. The right-wing party joined Schuessel's new Austrian government at the beginning of February. Haider, still indigestible for many Austrians and the rest of the world, had promised to stay in Carinthia, the southern province bordering Italy and Slovenia where he is the elected governor. The start of the new far-right coalition with a comfortable majority in the Viennese parliament was far from glorious. President Thomas Klestil, a conservative himself but visibly unhappy with the new developments, delayed the inauguration of the new government and vetoed some of Haider's ministers, starting with his top candidate Thomas Prinzhorn, who bellowed during the election campaign that foreign women in Austria would get state-funded hormone treatment to make them more fertile. Austria's 14 partners in the European Union were so shocked that they decided to impose diplomatic sanctions -- turning Schuessel and his crew into pariahs. The US government came out with strong criticism. And Israel withdrew its ambassador -- pointing to Haider's ambiguous stance towards the Nazi era. In the past, he had praised Hitler's "sound employment policy" and commended former SS soldiers as "decent men." Haider's parents were both early activists in the Nazi Party, though he says that it is all a big misunderstanding. Despite the international uproar and constant rallies against the new government in Austria, Haider, having survived many scandals and setbacks, seemed convinced that he would still be able to pull the strings from his base in the Alps. But his involvement was too obvious. Famous for his rough manners, he kept on insulting his critics and regularly summoned his ministers to Klagenfurt, the capital of his province. Austria's Foreign Minister Mrs Ferrero- Waldner begged the European partners not to listen to Haider's "beer-tent rhetoric" and to end the political quarantine. But nobody was amused. "The problem is not Joerg Haider, but what his party represents," said Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres, who currently holds the EU presidency. With pressure building up constantly, the "shadow-chancellor" suddenly decided to take action. At the end of February, Joerg Haider resigned as leader of the Freedom Party -- a move some regard as a first sign of despair while others see it as a ploy or just another tactical step to victory. The "magician of modern European politics," as The New York Times described him, will, however, remain the governor of Carinthia, where he plans to show what pure Haider-politics really mean -- far away from the capital Vienna where his amateurs in government are bound to make many mistakes and concessions to their coalition partner. If all goes well, he can still take the credit. If not, he will pretend not to be responsible. Officially vice-chancellor, Susanne Riess-Passer will now become party leader. She is Haider's choice, known to be one of his most loyal supporters. And she quickly announced that she would "regularly phone Klagenfurt" to ask for advice and guidance. Behind the curtains Haider is still in charge. And he has time to wait until things have calmed down. He is financially independent -- thanks to the Bear Valley, a 3,700-acre estate left to him by a great-uncle in 1986 when he assumed leadership of his party. The uncle bought the $16 million property during World War II from a Jewish family forced to sell it for almost nothing. The renunciation of party leadership brought Haider the freedom to lash out further against friends and enemies. He has freed his tongue, his most valuable asset, and can keep on planning new moves while his puppets in Vienna try to prove that they can run a country. And he now occupies the position of the most successful far-right politician on the continent. Across Europe, an array of mostly unsuccessful parties admire their hero for his post-modern blend. The Frenchman Jean-Marie Le Pen, chief of the once very successful but now crumbling National Front, praises Haider's rise as "a very encouraging development." Belgian and Danish parties on the right regard him as an example. Right-wingers in Germany are green with envy when they look at Haider's results. In neighbouring Switzerland, a copy of Haider captured 22.5 per cent of the vote in the last election. Some have even asked Haider to unite the European right. Although he is flattered, Haider tries to distance himself from other right- wing groups. "We are a specific product of the Austrian political system," he says, "and we do not want to be compared with other movements." Especially if they are not as successful as his own. 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