INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: PRAGUE: Austria has been suspended between shock, indifference and denial since Jörg Haider's successor, Stefan Petzner, said in a radio interview that the controversial and charismatic far-right politician, who died in a car accident this month, had been "the man of my life."
Petzner, the 27-year-old who took over from Haider as head of his right-wing Alliance for the Future of Austria, has made teary-eyed appearances on television since his death. Last Sunday, he told the Austrian radio Ö3 that he had felt a magnetic attraction for Haider, whom he met five years ago.
"We had a special relationship that went far beyond friendship," he said in the highly emotional interview. "Jörg and I were connected by something truly special. He was the man of my life."
Officials at Haider's party, which gained more than 10 percent of the votes in September elections, attempted to limit the political fallout from the confession by dismissing Petzner as party leader. But their requests that the radio interview not be rebroadcast were rebuffed by Austrian journalists.
Haider, 58, the governor of the province of Carinthia, was the son of a shoemaker; his parents were both active Nazis. He rose to national prominence in Austria over the last two decades, championing traditional family values, railing against the European Union and calling for an end to immigration. He had cultivated a macho, man-of-the-people persona, and was married with two daughters.
While his country has been clearly gripped by a somewhat un-Austrian outpouring of emotions, commentators there said the effective outing of Haider had been underplayed or largely ignored in the Austrian media, which tend to shy away from the private lives of politicians and other national figures.
While Vienna has an active, obvious gay community, homosexuality remains a taboo in some more conservative parts of the society, and Haider's supporters are intent on preserving his legacy as a traditional family man. >>> By Dan Bilefsky | October 23, 2008
WIENER ZEITUNG:
BZÖ Boss Named: Klagenfurt: Acting Carinthian Governor Gerhard Dörfler has been confirmed as new provincial governor by the provincial parliament. >>> | October 24, 2008
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Haider's Successor Axed for Loving Him: THE successor to Austrian far-right leader Jorg Haider has been forced to step down after he revealed he and the dead politician had a homosexual relationship… >>> | October 24, 2008
TIMESONLINE:
Far-right Austrian Leader Sacked for Revealing Gay Affair with Jörg Haider >>> | October 23, 2008
FRANCE 24:
Haider’s Lover Steps Down as Far-right Party Leader: Stefan Petzner, a former beauty journalist, was forced to step down from the helm of his far right-wing Austrian party shortly after announcing on Austrian radio that he and the notorious Joerg Haider, who dies Oct. 11, had been lovers. >>> | October 23, 2008
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