Stefan Petzner: " Haider was the man of my life'"

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I came upon something unexpected today. So, after his tragic* death, the former Austrian politician continues to generate controversy. A Mr. Stefan Petzner recently spoke to the Austrian radio, describing his relationship with the man. You can find out more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7685905.stm

"We had a special relationship that went far beyond friendship," Mr Petzner said in an emotional interview.

"Joerg and I were connected by something truly special. He was the man of my life," he added.

And he insisted that Mr Haider's widow did not object to their relationship.

Oh, and if you ask who Stefan Petzner is, I am afraid I do not know any more about him than that.


*: no more than any other, imo, but some may feel otherwise

 

He was a right wing politician, what did you expect? They are riddled with closet self-hating homoesexuals.

 

I'm glad to see it's not just the republican party....

 

The dismantling of THE flamboyant figure on the Austrian right ... just as him, 'Mr. Law & Order himself', dying in a car wreck after driving under the influence wasn't enough - aside from being flamboyantly xenophobic and anti-Semitic he was also closet gay? I didn't really want to know. The man never really deserved attention.

That also counts for this Mr. Stefan Petzner, who is now touring the Austrian and Swiss interview circuit as a second widow

 

Sounds to me like this guy is just gunning for some extra attention. This party, the Alliance for Austria's Future, sounds to me like a fringe extremists party (from the article, anyhow) -- I mean, he only got 10% of the votes last election, right? Is Austria a Proportional Rep system? Even if it is, he still wouldn't have a huge voice in the government, I'm guessing.

But it's still worth asking -- will this admission of quasi-homosexuality damage this right wing party in Austria?

 

It is proportional, yes. AFAIK there are 2 large parties in Austria - the OVP conservatives and the SPO social-democrats. Often the two parties govern in a joint centrist coalition. Heider's current party is the BZO, and it did get some 10% of the votes, but there is another far right party, the FPO - which Heider's block splintered from. The FPO was supposedly centrist before Haider became its leader (in the 80s it was part of some coalition governments with the OVP) but they veered to the right since. Actually, many of Heider's famous comments, which branded him as a nationalist and Nazi Germany sympathizer, came during his period as a FPO leader. In 2000, the party got some 27% of the votes - more than any other party - and managed to persuade the OVP to enter a coalition government with it. Heider's people had a problem with the internal opposition and split up from the party; they didn't fare very well until 2008, barely passing the 4% barrier for entering parliament, but they did fairly well this year. Anyway, the Austrian far right is fairly large numerically, even if it is usually shunned in politics - conventional political wisdom prefers left-right centrist coalitions, as nationalists are considered somewhat taboo. Still, the two far right parties in Austria have some 30% of the seats and in case of a serious rift between conservatives and social democrats (like that's hard) either of the two may be chosen for a coalition partner again.

I'm not sure there is a clear parallel on the other side of the Atlantic to compare them to - according to the US standards (as I understand them) some of their positions are on the right, others on the left. I'd say they are so much on the right they are approaching the left from the other end Think dislike for foreigners and immigrants, glorification of their (austrian/pan-Germanic?) past - basically a conservative ideological base - with support for a strong central government, compulsory pre-schooling, partial nationalization of the agriculture and other methods to give the state a measure of control over the social and economic sphere. Then, add a sprinkle of libertarian ideas such as more direct democracy (referenda, I suppose), no inheritance tax, and a few others.... In general, imo such parties tend to preach a very democratic society - for those who are the "proper" members of society - and a powerful state to guarantee the public's interests.

Edit: ooh, something interesting. This Petzner guy had been selected as the leader of Heider's party on October 12th, but these media "revelations" have since cost him the position. Tusk, tusk, what a shame for a party of values