After Haider, Austrian far-right could grow

KLAGENFURT, Austria (Reuters) - A year after his death in a car crash, a new memorial to Joerg Haider has become a temple to the man who shook up European politics with his anti-foreigner campaigns.

But where fans flock to the exhibits in Carinthia province to pore over such relics as Haider's childhood rocking horse and family photos, outside the province he ruled for more than a decade, his party's days look numbered.

The Alliance for Austria's Future has stumbled badly in regional elections held since Haider's death, failing to win enough votes to get seats in three provincial parliaments. In Carinthia in March it polled over 45 percent to retain power.

"His party was able to use a dead man to win a (provincial) election in Carinthia. They tried the same thing outside the province, and failed miserably," political analyst Peter Filzmaier said.

Ironically, the demise of the poster-boy of Austrian politics could open the door to a stronger right for elections that are due in 4 years but could come sooner if the governing coalition founders -- a common event in Austria.

The main center-left and center-right parties have been hemorrhaging votes, weakened by bland, faceless politicians -- the two had their worst showing since World War Two in 2008 because of perceptions they were out touch with concerns over the economy and immigration.

The only winners were the far-right parties Alliance and the Freedom Party. Freedom was Haider's original party before he split off to form the slightly more moderate Alliance in 2005.

The original Freedom Party at one point gained such mainstream appeal in the insular Alpine republic, feeding off xenophobia and anti-European Union sentiment, that it entered a governing coalition with the conservatives from 2000-2006.

Today, Freedom has managed to retain a strong political presence with a leader who is young and energetic and who appeals to the same younger disaffected crowd initially attracted to Haider.

Analysts say Heinz-Christian Strache, a vigorous, 40-year-old former dental technician, has been able to build on Haider's legacy using right-wing populism and painting himself as a man of the people.

"Just like Haider, Strache goes to discos and is especially attractive to young men without higher education," said political analyst Anton Pelinka.

Freedom Party has doubled its share of the vote in two provincial elections earlier this year.

It has performed well since Austria's voting age was lowered to 16. On his website, Strache is photographed in black and white like a movie star and fans can download his rap song, "Viva HC!" as a cellphone ringtone.

But Strache lacks Haider's chameleon-like qualities and rhetorical prowess, analysts say, and his party has so far failed to attract the more moderate right-wing voters that opt for Alliance or the conservatives.

Haider raised an international uproar in the 1990s when he touted the "proper labor policies" of Nazi Germany and praised surviving veterans of the murderous Waffen SS as "decent men of character" -- although he later expressed some regret for what he called "insensitive and ambiguous" remarks.

Still, he was able to juggle hardline views with the image of an engaging politician who bucked the stuffy Vienna establishment.

"Maybe he had extreme views but on the other hand you should stick to your line and it's not going to please everyone when you have your own opinion," said Petra Heifler, 41, a visitor to Haider's memorial.

He mellowed politically toward the end of his life, expressing openness to pragmatic coalitions with any party.

OPPOSITION OR GOVERNMENT?

Alliance may seek to tie up with Freedom to survive at a national polls but Freedom will probably turn them down.

"If Alliance ceases to exist outside Carinthia, then Freedom might say -- why should we make them an offer?" Pelinka said.

Freedom can pick up votes from the dying Alliance party and gain even more support.

Together the two parties captured nearly a third of the vote in the 2008 national elections, two weeks before Haider died at the age of 58.

Still, analysts say Freedom will struggle to enter power at the next national election even if it does absorb the Alliance.

The governing center parties have ruled out cooperation with the far right, which calls for a halt to immigration and a new government department in charge of repatriating foreigners.

In the long term Freedom will have to make the choice between being a haven for protest voters or a party which could enter government by appealing to a wider range of voters and other political parties, essential for coalition-building.

"In the long-term it cannot be Strache's goal for (Freedom) to remain a big opposition party," Pelinka said.

BACK IN THE BUNKER

The Haider memorial in the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt, housed in a museum that was a bunker in Austria's Nazi era, glosses over less savory details of his family history.

His father was once a member of Hitler's Storm Troopers and his mother was a teacher who had been a Hitler Youth leader.

Also ignored is the police finding that he died because he lost control of his luxury car while intoxicated and driving at far over the speed limit in the early morning hours on his way to his family home.

Flowers, candles and statues of angels have adorned the roadside site of his crash outside Klagenfurt for the past year. Weeping mourners thronged the site on the first anniversary.

It is the kind of devotion no other Austrian politician has ever captured.

(Writing by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Ralph Boulton)