He likes Nazi symbols and lauds SS – and voters adore him for it
Cain and Allan Hall
AUSTRIA has once again lurched to the right in a national election that saw sweeping gains for extreme politics.
Although the socialists took the biggest chunk of the poll yesterday, the far-right parties combined garnered nearly a third of votes. The big winner was Heinz-Christian Strache, leader of the Freedom Party – a man who wants to legalise Nazi symbols and in the past has organised ceremonies to honour SS veterans.
The Freedom Party won about 18 per cent and the Alliance for the Future 11 per cent, a combined total of 29 per cent. In 1999, the Freedom Party, under the leadership of Jörg Haider who formed the breakaway Alliance for the Future in 2005, took 26 per cent before slumping to just 10 per cent in 2002 and 15 per cent in 2006. The biggest rebound came from Alliance for the Future, which gained 8 percentage points since 2006.
In total, 183 seats in parliament are up for grabs.
The far right's showing heralded political instability in the republic since the two main centrist parties will be hard put to re-establish a broad coalition even if they resolve the feuds that killed off their last one.
"Terrible," Anton Pelinka, a political analyst, said of prospects for stable government in the near future. "The strength of the far right parties will make formation of a coalition incredibly difficult if you don't bring either into government."
The Freedom Party's first junior role in government so repelled the EU in 2000 that it briefly imposed sanctions on Austria.
"If this trend continues then the next but one chancellor of Austria will be Heinz-Christian Strache," said Michael Häupl, the Social Democrat mayor of the capital Vienna.
But Mr Strache is making a bid to take the chancellor's seat immediately, reminding voters that in 1999 the third-placed People's Party leader Wolfgang Schüssel was made chancellor.
The Social Democrats and centre-right People's Party, which formed the last government, took 30 per cent and 25 per cent respectively. The Greens slipped a percentage point to 10 per cent.
Both far right parties toned down their xenophobic rhetoric in the campaign. With the Alliance for the Future saying "Let's roll up our sleeves and get started" and the Freedom Party "Now it's about us Austrians".
But standing behind them were the candidates who conjured up more strident slogans in previous campaigns, which went out of their way to portray foreigners as criminals and to insult Muslims.
About 10 per cent of Austria's population is classified as foreign, although this relatively high proportion is largely because fewer migrants choose to take on the nationality of their host country than elsewhere.
"Nobody wants more Social Democrat-People's party coalitions," said the newly moderate Mr Haider. "There needs to be something new in Austria."
The far right's chances of finding seats in government remain slim, however, not least because of personal rifts between their leaders. But some observers say the allure of power could forge an alliance between them.
Mr Strache, 38, once dubbed Jörg Haider without the charm or the brains, has appealed to a strong nationalistic and xenophobic streak in his countrymen with slogans like "Vienna must not become Istanbul."
He promised more rights, more welfare, more social security – but "for Austrian citizens only." He has also pledged to stop Austrian boys facing "pig eater" taunts, and Austrian girls from "being fondled by hordes of immigrants".
A roar filled the air in Freedom's election tent in Vienna when the results flashed on a screen, with the crowd – mainly young and middle-aged men drinking beer – punching the air and shouting "bravo".
"Freedom is the only party that tells it like it is," said Martin Marik, 33.
The Freedom Party won about 18 per cent and the Alliance for the Future 11 per cent, a combined total of 29 per cent. In 1999, the Freedom Party, under the leadership of Jörg Haider who formed the breakaway Alliance for the Future in 2005, took 26 per cent before slumping to just 10 per cent in 2002 and 15 per cent in 2006. The biggest rebound came from Alliance for the Future, which gained 8 percentage points since 2006.
In total, 183 seats in parliament are up for grabs.
The far right's showing heralded political instability in the republic since the two main centrist parties will be hard put to re-establish a broad coalition even if they resolve the feuds that killed off their last one.
"Terrible," Anton Pelinka, a political analyst, said of prospects for stable government in the near future. "The strength of the far right parties will make formation of a coalition incredibly difficult if you don't bring either into government."
The Freedom Party's first junior role in government so repelled the EU in 2000 that it briefly imposed sanctions on Austria.
"If this trend continues then the next but one chancellor of Austria will be Heinz-Christian Strache," said Michael Häupl, the Social Democrat mayor of the capital Vienna.
But Mr Strache is making a bid to take the chancellor's seat immediately, reminding voters that in 1999 the third-placed People's Party leader Wolfgang Schüssel was made chancellor.
The Social Democrats and centre-right People's Party, which formed the last government, took 30 per cent and 25 per cent respectively. The Greens slipped a percentage point to 10 per cent.
Both far right parties toned down their xenophobic rhetoric in the campaign. With the Alliance for the Future saying "Let's roll up our sleeves and get started" and the Freedom Party "Now it's about us Austrians".
But standing behind them were the candidates who conjured up more strident slogans in previous campaigns, which went out of their way to portray foreigners as criminals and to insult Muslims.
About 10 per cent of Austria's population is classified as foreign, although this relatively high proportion is largely because fewer migrants choose to take on the nationality of their host country than elsewhere.
"Nobody wants more Social Democrat-People's party coalitions," said the newly moderate Mr Haider. "There needs to be something new in Austria."
The far right's chances of finding seats in government remain slim, however, not least because of personal rifts between their leaders. But some observers say the allure of power could forge an alliance between them.
Mr Strache, 38, once dubbed Jörg Haider without the charm or the brains, has appealed to a strong nationalistic and xenophobic streak in his countrymen with slogans like "Vienna must not become Istanbul."
He promised more rights, more welfare, more social security – but "for Austrian citizens only." He has also pledged to stop Austrian boys facing "pig eater" taunts, and Austrian girls from "being fondled by hordes of immigrants".
A roar filled the air in Freedom's election tent in Vienna when the results flashed on a screen, with the crowd – mainly young and middle-aged men drinking beer – punching the air and shouting "bravo".
"Freedom is the only party that tells it like it is," said Martin Marik, 33.
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