Governor of Carinthia and leading BZOE candidate Gerhard Doerfler (R), and manager of the election campaign Stefan Petzner.
Austrian national-conservative party Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZOE) has won big in two regional elections in the country, trouncing the center-left Social Democrats by an overwhelming margin in one state and gaining big in another.
The party was devestated last October by the sudden and mysterious death of party leader Joerg Haider, who was killed in a car crash shortly after saying a “banking mafia” was responsible for the current economic crisis.
BZOE won 45.5% of the vote Carinthia, with the Social Democrats trailing with 28.6%.
Voting took place in Carinthia and Salzburg
While the Social Democrats did win in Salzburg with 39.5%, they lost ground to BZOE, which got 13% of the vote.
“I am surprised by the result,” said Haider’s widow Claudia. “I didn’t know that gratitude was a category in politics.”
“We really didn’t expect such a result,” said Social Democrat lead candidate Reinhart Rohr, who whined that the vote had been marked by “irrationalities.” “Apparently the Haider Factor played an important role.”
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