BY HILDA CUZCO
The Freedom Party, a right-wing organization led by fascist-minded politician Jorg Haider, registered gains in Austria's October 13 elections to the European Parliament, the legislative branch of the European Union. The Social Democratic Party, which heads Austria's government, slipped in the voting. Its governmental coalition partner, the conservative People's Party, won for the first time in 30 years in a national Austrian vote.

Under the chauvinist banner of "Austria First," the Freedom Party, which opposes cooperation with the EU, won 27.6 percent of the vote, for a close third place. This compares to the 22 percent that the party gained in the December 1995 parliamentary elections. The Social Democratic Party reached 29.1 percent of the vote, down from 38 percent in 1995, and the People's Party received 29.6 percent, up from 28 percent.

In addition the Freedom Party finished second in the elections for the city council of Vienna, the capital, with 28 percent of the vote, up from 22.5 percent in the last council vote. The Social Democrats lost the absolute majority of seats, which they had held since the end of World War II. Michael Haupl, a Social Democrat, remained the mayor of Vienna.

These votes took place in the context of growing tensions and polarization in Austria stemming from the capitalist social and economic crisis. As the Austrian rulers try to implement austerity measures against working people, the two-party system of the Social Democrats and People's Party has become more brittle.

The People's Party leader, Wolfgang Schuessel, split in October 1995 from a nine-year coalition with the Social Democrats over negotiations on a fiscal 1996 budget. A Social Democratic victory in the parliamentary elections forced the People's Party to rejoin the coalition in March 1996. The coalition is not expected to last through the next general elections of 1999, however.

In March, Austrian Social Democrat chancellor Franz Vranitzky announced austerity measures with tax increases and cuts in welfare to reduce the budget deficit by $9.7 billion by the end of 1997. The measures are touted as necessary to meet the economic standards to join the European Monetary Union currency by 1999.

Austria has been an EU member since Jan. 1, 1995. The Treaty on European Union, or so-called Maastricht treaty, requires that the countries maintain an annual debt of no more than 3 percent of the gross domestic product and total debt of no more than 60 percent of the gross domestic product.

"We want a Europe of fatherlands," Haider declared on the campaign trail last year, arguing that Austria's membership in the EU will destroy national sovereignty and take jobs away from Austrian workers.

Haider scapegoats immigrants, EU
During 1995 campaign speeches, the ultrarightist also called for "an absolute, complete stop to immigration." He added that immigration has made Austria "a center for international crime - drug dealers, car thieves, pimps and bandits." In the same vein, he told a Dec. 16, 1995, rally, "I don't mind our soldiers going to Bosnia to help preserve the peace, but I do mind when I see healthy Bosnians living off welfare here."

Haider's nationalist and anti-immigrant rhetoric had won him a hearing among the middle class and a layer of workers, who face cuts in social programs in the name of meeting the European Monetary Union requirements.

As of October, the unemployment rate stood at 4.1 percent, well below the EU average of 10.9 percent.

In an October 14 article titled "Down with the establishment," the British magazine the Economist explained that Haider, who has implied sympathies about the Nazis, "certainly does win Austria's racist vote - not to mention the votes of ancient Nazis." Haider has been outspoken against immigration.

Haider, a 45-old-lawyer, took over the leadership of the Freedom Party in 1986. Playing on the "Contract with America" declared by the Republicans in the U.S. Congress, Haider issued a 20-point "Contract with Austria," during his campaign in the December 1995 Austrian parliamentary elections, vowing to cut taxes, budget deficits, end crime, against big government, and attacking immigration.

The son of Nazi party active members in the 1930s, Haider came under fire last year, including criminal charges, for alleged neo-Nazi activities. A video tape of a secret meeting with ex-Waffen secret service veterans, military arm of the Nazi SS, held in the Austrian village of Kumpendorf, had leaked to German and Austrian television causing an uproar in political circles. In it, Haider allegedly called the veterans "decent people of good character," praising them for "sticking to their convictions despite the greatest opposition."

The Austrian government is not the only one adopting austerity measures in the name of meeting the requirements for a single European currency. Among the 15 country members, Paris has targeted health care benefits, Bonn is pushing to cut sick pay and other social gains, and the Italian government seeks pension and health care cuts.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home