Austria: FPO, Schussel's party of choice.
01 January 2003
The Austrian chancellor, Wolfgang Schüssel, announced that his party would allow the far-right Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ) to rejoin his government as the junior partner at the beginning of March. Although he will not be in the new cabinet the FPÖ's Hitler-admiring leader, Jorg Haider, will once again assert a strong influence on Austrian government policy. The previous coalition collapsed last September when, at Haider's command, FPÖ ministers resigned their positions. In the ensuing elections the far-right party saw its vote collapse and acrimonious arguments broke out within its ranks, leading to the election of three leaders in a two month period. In November the latest of these, Herbert Haupt, a slaughterhouse vet and Haider supporter, took control of the party. Now Schussel, who once pledged that he would rather go into opposition than share office with Haider, has thrown the FPÖ a lifeline once again. The new cabinet will include three FPÖ ministers.