Austria mourns far-right leader Haider in grand ceremony

Oct 18, 2008, 15:36 GMT

Claudia Haider, widow of far right Austrian politician Joerg Haider, bows before the flower bedecked coffin containing her husband during funeral ceremonies in Klagenfurt Cathedral 18 October 2008. Haider died in a car crash a week ago. EPA/BARBARA GINDL

Klagenfurt, Austria - One week after Joerg Haider died in a car accident, politicians and 25,000 Austrians gathered Saturday in the town of Klagenfurt to commemorate the far-right politician.

In a grand official ceremony that took place before the private funeral, the coffin of the late governor of Carinthia was led in a procession around the centre of the provincial capital, watched by masses dressed in black or in traditional dirndl dresses and lederhosen.

Although Haider's anti-foreigner stance and his revisionist statements divided the Austrian public, the governor of Carinthia was revered by a large part of the population in his home province.

In their speeches, several politicians used quasi-religious language to describe Haider, who was also leader of the Alliance for the Future of Austria and had led the country's right-wing movement to numerous successful elections since the 1980s.

'Wherever you are, look after our province. You promised us,' said Klagenfurt's mayor Harald Scheucher.

Austria's social democratic Chancellor Gusenbauer took great care to point out that many had fiercely opposed Haider's politics.

Haider was a man who 'was able to enthral, but also to cause protest,' Gusenbauer said.

The Alliance, which won 11 per cent of votes in national elections in September, faces an uncertain future as the party was fully geared towards its leader.

Emboldened by winning 18 per cent in the elections, the rival far-right Freedom Party has invited voters and Alliance politicians to join its movement, after Haider died October 11 in Klagenfurt.

The car he was driving at a speed of 142 kilometres per hour veered off the road and flipped over several times. Haider, 58, was drunk at the time of the accident.

With tears in their eyes, people lining the main square where the ceremony was held had only positive things to say about the governor.

'I have come to bid farewell to the best man Carinthia ever had,' said Gertrude Naber-Ehrlich, an elderly woman from Klagenfurt.

World War Two veterans' organizations travelled to Klagenfurt from all over Austria. Right-wing student union members raised their sabres in a last salute.

The service ended with a mass in the Klagenfurt cathedral, where Haider's wife and two daughters were joined by Austrian President Heinz Fischer and leading Austrian politicians.

Contrary to media reports, no European right-wingers, such as Jean-Marie Le Pen from France or Alessandra Mussolini from Italy, were present.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi, took part in the ceremony that in some ways seemed more fit for a head of state than a deceased governor. Gaddafi befriended Haider during his post-graduate studies in Vienna.

Two presidents of northern Italian regions, Renzo Tondo from Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Giancarlo Galan from Veneto, also participated.