AUSTRIA: A power struggle within the extreme-right Freedom Party of Austrian politician Mr Jörg Haider threatened yesterday to derail its uneasy ruling coalition with the conservative People's Party.
Mr Haider, who handed over leadership of the Freedom Party to Vice-Chancellor Ms Susanne Riess-Passer after reaching a coalition deal with the conservatives in February 2000, withdrew a call for a "popular consultation" on tax cuts late on Tuesday, in a bid to stop the party splintering.
Mr Haider's initiative, which he proposed on Monday, had angered Ms Riess-Passer, who ruled out any tax cut and threatened to resign if Mr Haider went ahead with his plan.
Such a consultation would only lead to a debate within the government on a tax cut, and could eventually lead to a referendum.
"I am prepared to renounce a popular consultation to avoid splitting the party," Mr Haider said in a television interview.
But he renewed his threat to withdraw support from the party in its next election campaign "if the party is not prepared to move towards me". Mr Haider accused the coalition government of breaking electoral promises after it withdrew plans for tax reforms in the wake of floods which devastated swathes of the country this month, saying public funds could not cover both repairs and tax cuts.
Austria's press yesterday raised fears that the power struggle within the Freedom Party could split the coalition.
"This is the bitterest power struggle Austria has seen" since Haider took over leadership of the Freedom Party in 1986, said Andreas Unterberger, editor of the conservative daily Die Presse.
"If Haider wins, the government will collapse and there will probably be an election," said the left-wing daily Der Standard.
The popular daily Kurier warned: "If Haider takes over the party leadership again, he will not find a coalition partner."
"Given the first chance, Haider will turn the party around in his favour and that is what Riess-Passer is afraid of," commented a prominent political analyst, Mr Ferdinand Karlhofer. - (AFP)