Austrian politics, Haider fizzles

The far-right maverick forms a new party of his own

JRG HAIDER exploded on to the European political scene five years ago when his far-right Freedom Party joined the Austrian government. The coalition led by Wolfgang Schussel, a moderate conservative, suffered the embarrassment of a diplomatic freeze by Austria's European Union partners, as well as upheavals caused by Mr Haider's erratic style. Now the government faces what may be an even more trying time. For the erratic Mr Haider has decided to dump his nationalist creed, desert his party and start another that steers clear of any recognisable ideology.

The Alliance for Austria's Future, as the new party is called, has adopted the colour orange from Ukraine's revolution. At its launch this week, Mr Haider managed to combine pro-European and anti-globalisation rhetoric. The man who once praised Hitler's employment policies now defines his credo merely as being “young, handsome and cool”.

Mr Haider had long been facing growing unrest from the Freedom Party's nationalist wing, as supporters blamed him for a string of electoral defeats and urged a return to his old populism. Being part of a moderate government has cost the party support: its backing peaked at 27% in 1999 but was down to no more than 9% by the start of this year. Mr Haider, now governor of Carinthia, seems more interested in the perks of power than in his old xenophobic message. He has toned down his anti-immigration rhetoric and even supports Turkey's entry into the EU.

By taking all Freedom Party ministers and most of his 18 parliamentary deputies with him into the new Alliance, Mr Haider can also keep Mr Schussel in power. But most grass-roots activists are sticking with the old party. And the new one has not, so far, played well with the public. If elections were held now, the Social Democrats and Greens would probably win a majority; both the new Alliance and the old Freedom Party might fall short of the 4% threshold for parliamentary representation.

Mr Schussel's hope is that he can hold his coalition together until the first half of 2006, when Austria holds the EU presidency, and use his formidable campaigning skills in the general election due later that year to keep his People's Party just ahead of the Social Democrats. Unless he can recapture his maverick appeal, Mr Haider's own political future looks likely to be short.