FPÖ marks Haider’s rise in Innsbruck as 100 protest

The FPÖ gathered around 1,000 party officials and members in Innsbruck on Saturday to commemorate Jörg Haider’s election as federal party chairman nearly 40 years ago, ORF reported. The event took place at the Innsbruck Congress centre, where Haider ousted then-party leader Norbert Steger in a contested vote in 1986. A protest rally was held in the city at the same time.

Held under the title “Breakthrough to the top,” the event brought together party members in the centre’s Saal Tirol hall. Markus Abwerzger, the FPÖ’s leader in Tyrol, said Haider had “made history” at the venue 40 years ago.

On September 13, 1986, Haider won 57.7 percent of delegate votes at the FPÖ party conference and took control from Steger, who was also vice chancellor. The following day, then Chancellor Franz Vranitzky of the SPÖ ended the coalition between the SPÖ and FPÖ, leading to an early election.

In that election, Haider doubled the FPÖ’s vote share to 9.7 percent. Over the following years, the party became Austria’s third political force alongside the ÖVP and SPÖ. Haider transformed it from a small national liberal party of notable figures into a populist mass movement.

Haider’s rise within the FPÖ was marked by internal conflicts. In 2005, he broke with the party after disputes and founded the Alliance for the Future of Austria, known as the BZÖ. Three days later, interim FPÖ leader Hilmar Kabas expelled him from the party. Heinz Christian Strache then took over as FPÖ leader. The split led to major conflicts within Austria’s Freedom Party camp. Haider died in a car accident in 2008.

The FPÖ said it wanted to build on Haider’s legacy. Under Haider, the party moved politically to the right, and current party officials said they hoped to benefit from that record.

Looking ahead to Tyrol’s state election in about a year, Abwerzger said the FPÖ could help voters “abolish” what he called political stagnation, cronyism and a rigid political system. He said the party would work toward that goal in 2027.

Party officials repeatedly credited federal leader Herbert Kickl with the FPÖ’s current success. Kickl told the audience that the party could continue to grow and said it would “smash through the ceiling of 40 percent.”

The event also marked the end of an FPÖ parliamentary group meeting in Innsbruck. Police deployed a large contingent around the venue.

At the same time, about 100 people demonstrated against the FPÖ event and the party on Maria Theresa Street. The rally was organised by the Innsbruck Against the Right alliance under the slogan “40 years of division are no reason to celebrate.”

Daniela Hackl, speaking for the alliance, said Haider had amplified ideologies the group did not support, including anti-democratic positions and ideas that came too close to German nationalist and far-right thinking.