After 13 years of grand coalition rule by the
social-democratic SPÖ and conservative ÖVP the Austrian general election
of 3 October 1999 produced radical changes in the country#s politics, the
extreme right-wing Freedom Party (FP) came second winning more than
1,240,000 votes (27%) and 52 seats in parliament. For its leader Jörg
Haider, "the political foster-father and ideologist of extreme
right-wing terrorism", the poll was a stunning victory, establishing
him as a contender for power.
The question is not, as some radical conservatives in
Austria and abroad try to suggest, one of "left or right" but of
right or wrong. Racism is wrong, even when those advocating it declare
their sudden love for Jews. No decent party would form coalition with
racists.
The Austrian people are entitled to elect their
members of parliament and choose a government. By the same token, other
nations have a right to protest their choice of a government which
includes a party whose values and public statements are utterly abhorrent
to them.
It is a shame, that 55 years after the liberation of
Austria by Allied soldiers, foreign countries have to give Austria a
lesson in democracy because Austrian society was not able to stop Haider.
All the same, the people of Austria as a whole do not deserve to be
equated with Haider and his ilk.
