Haider party to join rightist coalition

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS, FEB. 2. Despite the threat by the European Union to isolate Austria if the far right Freedom Party led by Mr. Joerg Haider is included in Government, leaders of the conservative People's Party and Mr. Haider on Tuesday agreed to form a new coalition. The deal, which was clinched late in the night, will be presented to the President, Mr. Thomas Klestil, for approval.

Reacting to the development, Israel decided to withdraw its ambassador from Austria. On the domestic front, people have been ``taken aback'' by the growing condemnation of the proposed rightist coalition and the Freedom Party's role in it.

The head of the People's Party, Mr. Wolfgang Schuessel, who may emerge as the new Chancellor of Austria, said he would present to the President for approval a ``reasonable government'' which may clear the way for participation of the xenophobic and racist Freedom Party in the new government. Observers note that it is for the first time since the collapse of the Nazi regime in Germany that a far right party will participate in a democratically elected government in the European continent.

The current realities on the Austrian political front would suggest that such a scenario is not only inevitable but almost indispensable as the ruling Social Democrats who were ousted from power in the October elections have attracted much notoriety for their corrupt and inefficient governance. Mr. Haider has promised a clean, efficient and transparent administration which will embark on a programme of major economic reforms to streamline the ailing Austrian economy, which is burdened with unaffordable social welfare and pension schemes.

Mr. Schuessel said that demands by the 14 E.U. members to break off negotiations with the Freedom Party even before ``hearing their agenda were not fair and not in harmony with the spirit of the European treaties.''

Mr. Haider continues to plead that he is a ``reformed man'' who regrets his statements on race, Nazi labour policies and aversion to workers from the Balkans and Turkey. But Mr. Haider's protestations lack credibility as he is widely suspected to be a populist and ruthless opportunist. He continues to be branded as an outcast by the European states, Israel and now the United States. Some Democrats in the U.S. are considering launching a boycott of Austrian goods and services. The U.S. National Security Council has said the Bill Clinton administration would ``carefully'' examine relations with Austria if the Freedom Party joined the new Government. How the E.U. will ``isolate and limit'' relations with the new Austrian Government remains to be seen.

A more pragmatic perception emerging at the European Commission is that the new Government is democratically elected and that it has no xenophobic agenda. Austrians insist that Mr. Haider has expressed regret for his racist statements and that he should be given a chance to prove that he has changed his views. Hence, there is much speculation here about how the E.U. officials and bureaucrats may respond to the new Austrian Ministers who are members of the Freedom Party.

Portugal holds the current six-monthly presidency of the E.U. The Prime Minister, Mr. Antonio Guterres, said if a E.U. member Government includes a party that is xenophobic and in conflict with the E.U.'s view on human rights, then ``nothing will be as before''. He said the E.U's current response was a ``symbolic one'' and ``a lesson for the world''.

The rumpus has also triggered emotive responses in Austria. The country's ambassador to France described Mr. Haider as a ``demagogue''.

In the event of the E.U. deciding to isolate Austria, the member countries will halt bilateral contacts with that country and its diplomats will be denied contacts at all levels of the E.U.'s administration. The E.U.'s support for Austrian candidates in international organisations will also be withdrawn.

Austrians may be able to live with all this for a while and Austria may not collapse, but the stigma and the long- term repercussions for the country's will be far more serious.

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Section  : International
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