LINZ - Former chancellor Dr Franz Vranitzky stepped down as head of Austria's Social Democrats yesterday, welcoming his successor, Mr Viktor Klima, and warning of the dangers posed by the popular far right.
Dr Vranitzky (59) was visibly moved as, after 11 years in the political spotlight, he took his leave in a speech at the party's annual conference.
He took the country by surprise when he announced his resignation as Chancellor and party leader in January and passed the reins to his finance minister, Mr Klima.
Setting out the agenda for his heirs, Dr Vranitzky said one of their prime goals should be to snatch back votes lost to Mr Jorg Haider's far right Freedom Party. "We want to win the votes back not by copying Haider's policies, but by convincing people his is not the right way forward," he said.
Dr Vranitzky has been widely criticised for having failed to take seriously the growing popularity of the far right under the leadership of the charismatic Mr Haider. Dr Vranitzky and Mr Haider took over their respective parties within months of each other in 1986. While the Social Democrat vote slumped to an all time low in European elections last October, dipping below 30 per cent, support for the far right soared to nearly 28 per cent.