Joerg Haider, Austria’s rabble-rousing, rightist politician, has resurfaced in national politics less than a decade after he sent shock waves through Europe by winning more than a quarter of the vote in parliamentary elections.
As Austria heads into a Sept. 28 national ballot, Haider emerged this month from his role as governor of the southern province of Carinthia to take over the leadership of the Alliance for the Future of Austria, an anti-immigrant party he founded in 2005.
“I want to do my part and offer an alternative to those who have turned away from the grand coalition,” Haider said in a statement the day he announced his comeback.
Haider’s biggest political triumph came as leader of the extreme-right Freedom party, raking in 27 percent of the vote in 1999 elections and winning his party a spot in the governing coalition.
Weariness with the status quo had pushed many Austrian voters to embrace Haider and his line that Austria’s problems were caused by corruption, foreigners and favoritism among “those in power.”
The Freedom Party’s inclusion in the government despite international alarm over Haider statements widely seen as anti-Semitic or sympathetic to Adolf Hitler’s labor policies sparked months of EU sanctions.
He stepped down as Freedom Party chief in 2000 — a move he now describes as his “biggest mistake.”
But he tried to run things from the sidelines — and ended up alienating huge numbers of supporters when his attacks on Freedom Party rivals in government provoked early elections.
Now Haider, 58, is aiming for another shot in the national spotlight as leader — and chief candidate — of the party he created after breaking away from the Freedom Party.
“I consider it my patriotic duty,” Haider told reporters after the leadership announcement.
Austria’s so-called grand coalition between the center-left Social Democrats and centrist People’s Party collapsed last month after months of acrimony.
Experts predict the Haider effect will lift the party’s fortunes but not enough to turn it into a major force in Austrian politics.
In October 2006 elections, the party barely passed the 4 percent hurdle needed to make it into parliament and has spent the past two years in the opposition.
Peter Filzmaier, one of Austria’s most respected political scientists, said Haider could double the party’s vote haul from 2006.
Haider stresses he is not interested in a seat in parliament.
Instead, Haider suggests he would only return to Vienna for something bigger and better: the chancellorship.
Some commentators see Haider’s maneuvering as a way to secure his position as governor of Carinthia.
“Haider doesn’t want a place in parliament, he’s looking for a stage for a couple of months,” said a recent opinion piece in the left-leaning newspaper Der Standard. “In March 2009, he wants to be re-elected as Carinthian governor and so any performance is welcome.”
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