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Elementary rules of Democracy

Once in a blue moon, I get mail that makes my heart chirp and sing -- and all but three responses in the packed inbox for Principal Principles were such. I'm shocked and delighted to note that there exist People Like Us -- cutting across all political shades. Too, I wanna share with you one letter which had me ROTFL for hours: "'Three, I'd have a patka-ed soldier hold a gun to Masood's head and telecast that footage with the message that for every hostage harmed, 100 jailed terrorists would die, starting with that bearded bastard.' Maybe I'm just a psychotic bastard myself, but the above sentence is suuuuch a f***** turn on... thanks :)" Sure I'm psychotic, Abhijit, but I'm relieved to find I ain't alone... thanks :)

It's been an unusually busy week, news-wise: the controversy over the Constitutional review; protests against the caste-based quota policy; the demand for autonomy or azadi from one of Farooq Abdullah's cabinet ministers; the demand for splitting J&K by Ladhakis and Panun Kashmir; the debate over the death penalty; Muslim protest against the UP Religious Bill; the Shroud's declaring war against "the RSS agenda"; Dara arrested; a Christian priest's assault on boys for refusing to convert; the imbroglio over Deepa Mehta's Water; The Great Wall's being sentenced to one year RI and the subsequent riot; Musharraf's taking charge of nuclear weapons... etc, etc. All subjects right up my ally. And I can't concentrate on any. I guess I'll sooner or later touch over some, but what catches my interest right now is the political crisis underway in Austria - because the situation is so like India's!

I'm not sure if you've kept tabs or not; I mean, who pays attention to Austrian politics, for chrissakes. To recap: Fourteen EU member-countries, the US and Israel threatened to politically isolate Austria if President Thomas Klestil sanctioned an administration comprising the right-wing Freedom Party led by Joerg Haider. Conservative People's Party leader Wolfgang Schuessel and Haider had signed a coalition pact, but the President, known to be hostile to the FP, delayed authorising the new government.

However, later, Klestil did summon Schuessel to be sworn in as chancellor, with six members from the FP and six from the People's Party as ministers, thereby ending the stalemate since the October 3 election. (Klestil approved the coalition only after barring two FP members from the proposed cabinet: one for making xenophobic statements; the other for threatening Klestil with "a bloody head" for blocking the party.) Within hours, police clashed with 15,000 anti-Haider demonstrators in Vienna; France and Portugal announced they would be implementing EU sanctions immediately, while Israel and the US said they would recall their ambassadors.

The sanctions against Austria will include: halting bilateral contacts; excluding Austrian officials from all unofficial talks and engagements; the suspension of political ties; limiting ambassadorial contacts to a technical level; and refusing to support Austrians for posts in international orgs. Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio has cancelled his state visit to Vienna next month. Belgians have been asked to boycott Austrian ski resorts. Israeli tourists are expected to cancel holiday bookings; the conference of European Rabbis due to take place in Vienna next month stands cancelled. And Portugal's (current president of the EU), Prime Minister Antonio Guterres said: "From now on, we will scrutinise the behaviour of the new Austria government."

The Israelis (and more power to their elephantine memories), lead the attack against Austria. And of course we know which community pulls America's purse strings. Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder/dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, asked Klestil to block Haider from government. Klestil replied that he had no choice because "The only alternative would be to dissolve Parliament and to call for new elections." More interestingly, in a reply to a US Jewish leader, Klestil admitted he was forced to allow Haider into government because if new elections were called, "the Freedom Party would get more votes than ever before"...

A-ha! Thing is, the FP made sensational gains in the election -- it came second, only 6 per cent behind the ruling Social Democrats, who suffered dramatic losses and whose coalition partner, the People's Party, was pushed into third place. Even so, Social Democrat leader and the then Chancellor, Viktor Klima, ruled out aligning with Joerg Haider. In October, pundits predicted "such political instability that another election will be necessary within a year." Respected statesman and former Chancellor Franz Vranitzky warned that Austria risked isolation because of the FP. Austrian EU Commissioner accused it of an anti-foreigner, anti-EU philosophy which would damage the country's international image. All this sounds familiar...?

There's more: The Freedom Party had campaigned on an anti-immigration ticket; Haider had declared that he would stop Austria being swamped by foreigners. He promised an Austria for Austrians, with more help for those who were affected by the government's austerity budget. He had once tried to stop Austria joining the EU and force a referendum on the single-currency issue.

But all this isn't quite the problem: The whole opposition to the FP is based on Joerg Haider's comments about Nazi Germany... October 1990: "Our soldiers were not criminals, at most they were victims." September 1995, about Waffen SS veterans: "...there are still decent people of good character who also stick to their convictions, despite the greatest opposition and have remained true to their convictions until today." December 1995: "The Waffen SS was a part of the Wehrmacht (military) and hence it deserves all the honour and respect of the army in public life."

After the coalition pact was made, Israel's Nobel peace laureate Shimon Peres said: "Hitler was from Austria and any man who raises so many doubts must also raise the alarm everywhere." French PM Lionel Jospin warned: "The aim is to make the Austrians wake up and see that this project is broken off. If it is not, France will have to take every measure to see that the Austria of Haider and Schuessel are politically isolated in Europe." US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said that there should be no place in a European government for a party that "doesn't distance itself clearly from the atrocities of the Nazi era and the politics of hate."

No matter what Schuessel said -- that Austria "now needs a functioning government fast"; that there was no threat to democracy or human rights; that the best way of countering the concerns was to allow the parties to present a new programme; that the EU was setting a dangerous precedent for interference in the domestic politics of another member state -- the objections didn't abate. As for Jorge Haider, he promised to stay out of national politics, leaving the chancellorship to Schuessel. He has apologised for his remarks in previous years: "I am personally sorry for this, firstly because I believe I hurt the feelings of people who were themselves victims of Nazism or whose relatives were, and secondly because the statements were not in line with the personal values of tolerance and humanity which are the basis of my political work."

But that's not the point at all! It is this: The last election sounded the death-knell for the "Grand Coalition" which governed Austria for the last 13 years. On its own, the People's Party has lost all political credibility with the electorate which sees it as a prostitute to power -- it first promised to sit in opposition, then tried to align with the Social Democrats, and then negotiated with Haider. Together, the FP and PP won 104 seats in the 183-seat Austrian parliament. About 35% of young Austrians voted for the Freedom Party. Joerg Haider democratically won almost 30% of Austrian votes. According to elementary rules of Democracy, no one has the right to prevent the Freedom Party from taking part in a coalition government. But that is *exactly* what Israel, the US and all the EU countries -- with the notable exception of UK -- are doing. It is nothing but blackmail. It is exactly what our so-called secularists and the pinkos have been doing with the right-wing in India.

The Freedom Party found a gap in Austria's political market and filled it. Which has everyone running in panic. Joerg Haider gibed, "There is a lot of excitement in the European chicken pen -- even though the fox hasn't even got in." Well, I can't help liking this man; anyone who stands up for soldiers can't be all bad. And I do not believe that every person in the Wehrmacht or the SS was a murderous villain -- no organisation, no person is entirely good or entirely evil. What is so objectionable and frightening about Haider's statements that he must be sent to Coventry...? I can and do understand why Israel has reacted thus -- but it still has no right to try and overthrow the decision of the people of Austria. Only the people of a country can decide their own future -- it is not for others to influence.

Here, the Shroud accused the loathsome BJP governments at the Centre and in Gujarat of "openly working" against the principles of secularism and unity enshrined in the Constitution, and said that her gasping-dead party would frustrate their "divisive policies." Point is, what was billed to be a public meeting, turned out to be a rally of around 20,000 party workers. Then, when the former maid-servant wanted her party workers to take a pledge at Delhi's Congress HQ, few showed up. At Ahmedabad, on Martyrs Day, when she tried to rustle up an agitation against "communalism," the people refused to attend her rally -- some 10,000 workers from Maharashtra, carried to Ahmedabad in hired buses, were the only "people" in attendance. What does it all say...?

Well, despite Joerg Haider's remarks and all the propaganda against the Sangh Parivar -- the right-wing, both -- the people of the respective countries have put their faith in the conservative coalition governments. They CHOOSE to ignore the garbage tags of "Nazi" and "fascist" as applied to those who admire hard-line politics. It is one thing for citizens to rustle up opinion among fellow citizens, and quite another for foreign countries to twist the arm of a government because *their* people may or may not like things as done elsewhere.

For me, the Austrian who comes out smelling of roses is President Klestil. Although he had repeatedly expressed his strong wish to keep the FP out of power, he admitted that, in the end, democracy must be respected. And as for Haider, who had been obliged by Klestil to sign a declaration accepting Austria's responsibility for its Nazi past, he said, "I have no intention to wander about in the world and apologise for all kinds of things." What can I say, a man after me own heart...

Varsha Bhosle