Austrian voters reject politics of extremism

Three years ago, voters in Austria sent shockwaves through Europe when they embraced the far-right Freedom Party and made its leader, Joerg Haider, a part of the government. What stunned outside observers was the fact that Haider had run on a pro-Hitler, anti-foreigner platform. That election came to epitomize Europe's rightward swing, with racial intolerance as its cornerstone.
Fortunately, the politics of hatred didn't take root. On Sunday, Haider's Freedom Party was literally booted out of government and the man who hailed Adolf Hitler is now nothing more than an old -- and not very funny -- joke. As Franz Fischler, an Austrian who serves as the European Union's agriculture commissioner, put it, Haider should quit once and for all in the name of "political decency."
But that may be asking too much of the provincial governor, who once praised Hitler's "orderly employment" policies and described the Waffen SS as "decent people of good character." The concept of decency obviously doesn't apply to this nutcase. Even his own supporters had begun to question his mental stability.
"He would start crying in the middle of a meeting," said Peter Sichrovsky, a former Freedom Party general-secretary. "He would yell, 'You have betrayed me, you are destroying me.'" Sichrovsky was one of the moderates purged from the party.
Hatemonger
The voters obviously recognized Haider for what he is -- a hatemongering buffoon -- and in Sunday's election tossed him out. His Freedom Party captured only 10 percent of the vote, losing nearly two-thirds of its previous support. That means the party will no longer share power with the conservative People's Party, which received more than 42 percent. The Social Democrats also gained ground in the election, receiving about 37 percent of the vote.
The election in Austria should give hope to leaders of other European countries that are under pressure from right-wing movements. The politics of extremism and division seems to be losing its glitter.
Last May, a center-right coalition took power in the Netherlands; today, the coalition has collapsed, amid bickering among the members.
But the new right continues to hold sway in Switzerland, Denmark and elsewhere. It is up to moderate governments to demonstrate that ruling from the center is not only good politics, but has the effect of neutralizing the extremists.
In Austria, the People's Party can no longer use Haider as an excuse for not governing under European standards of democracy and human rights.