04-04-2005 21:03									#1
	The Austrian right wing party is ashes Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

The former FPÖ lies in ashes and former leader Jörg Haider, much critizised for his populistic nazi-sympathic methods has left the FPÖ. The reason I think can shortly be summarized that this party lived and grew because of opposition and populistic talking and once in government their support twindeled down to nothing losing in every elections minor or major ones equally bad.
The party now split into the BZÖ (Bündnis Zukunft Österreich - Alliance for the future of Austria) and the FPÖ which probably will still contain the right wing of the party. Haider is said to join the BZÖ which all members of the government team are part of and I think he has become more moderate over the years. It's total chaos at the moment.

The next elections it's likely we'll see a grand coalition between the current-in-government mid2right people's party and the mid2left socialist party, even though I think both went a little further away from the center and would have to reorientate themselves first. If this won't work out I see deals with the green and the socialist (much like germany, but hopefully not that desastrous) or the leftist green and the people's party, but that would more be an experiment and it surely will be very tough for the greens.

I am all for a left wing government as I am curious to their performance.

quote: VIENNA (AFP) - Austrian far-right firebrand Joerg Haider announced he will lead a new political party formed here after the Freedom Party (FPOe), a member of the ruling coalition, split due to severe infighting. Austrian far-right firebrand Joerg Haider announced he will lead a new political party formed here after the Freedom Party (FPOe), a member of the ruling coalition, split due to severe infighting. "We have reached a crossroads. The choice was to return to the opposition benches or, as we wish to do, continue to carry our responsibility to rule with enough support," Haider said. He added that he will lead the new Alliance for Austria's Future (BZOe) and that it will remain part of the country's ruling coalition with the Conservatives of Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel. Haider's sister Ursula Haubner quit as president of the Freedom Party, which joined the government in 2000, and said she planned to remain in her post of social affairs minister as part of the new party. The new outfit would also take the FPOe's other ministers and state secretaries into the coalition with them, Haubner told a press conference in Vienna. She said an "onslaught by negative forces" had given rise to the need to form a new party. Austrian Vice Chancellor Hubert Gorbach, also a member FPOe, also announced his resignation from the party and intention to remain part of the government. "We are taking the only road that will ensure that this successful government can continue to do its work." "All the members of the government of the FPOe support this new way we have chosen," he said. Haider led the Freedom Party into a coalition with the Conservatives in February 2000, but his reputation for xenophobia and Nazi sympathies barred him from national office and he stepped down as party leader later that year. He has devoted himself to his post as governor of the southern province of Carinthia but has remained very much the party strongman and rumours of a return to the national leadership have raged for years. The move follows a meeting of the party's leadership last week at which an internal crisis over the FPOe's extremist wing boiled over and the leader of that faction, euro-MP Andreas Moelzer, was expelled. The leadership ousted him by 15 votes for and seven against with one abstention, thus just achieving the necessary two-thirds majority. Source: http://www.bakutoday.net/afps/engli...9.osxe102m.html

Wernazuma probably can give a better analysis.