Peter Westenthaler is an Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n politician. He assumed his mother's maiden name Westenthaler instead of his former surname Hojač (Czech

Czech language

Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...

). A member of Jörg Haider

Jörg Haider

Jörg Haider was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Austrian Freedom Party and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Austria , a breakaway party from the FPÖ.Haider was controversial within Austria and abroad for comments...

's Freedom Party of Austria

Freedom Party of Austria

The Freedom Party of Austria is a political party in Austria. Ideologically, the party is a direct descendant of the German national liberal camp, which dates back to the 1848 revolutions. The FPÖ itself was founded in 1956 as the successor to the short-lived Federation of Independents , which had...

 (FPÖ) up to the so-called "Knittelfeld Putsch

Knittelfeld Putsch

Knittelfeld Putsch refers to a conference of the Freedom Party of Austria which took place on 7 September 2002 in the small Austrian town of Knittelfeld, Styria, called due to political differences within the party leadership...

" of 2002, he then worked for Frank Stronach

Frank Stronach

Frank Stronach, CM is an Austrian-Canadian businessman. He is the founder of Magna International, an international automotive parts company based in Aurora, Ontario, Canada, and Magna Entertainment Corp., which specializes in horse-racing entertainment...

's Magna Steyr

Magna Steyr

Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik AG & Co KG is an automobile manufacturer based in Oberwaltersdorf, Austria, with its primary manufacturing location in Graz...

, and in June 2006 was elected chairman of the newly founded Alliance for the Future of Austria

Alliance for the Future of Austria

The Alliance for the Future of Austria , abbreviated to BZÖ, is a conservative liberal political party in Austria. The party has sixteen seats in the National Council....

 (BZÖ).

As leader of the BZÖ, Westenthaler was engaged in a heated dispute with FPÖ chairman Heinz-Christian Strache

Heinz-Christian Strache

Heinz-Christian Strache is an Austrian politician, member of parliament, former member of the Vienna city council and political leader of the Freedom Party of Austria . He is a right-wing politician and an efficient populist...

 over which of the two political parties is the legal successor to the former FPÖ (the party before the split of 2005 which was a candidate at the Austrian legislative election, 2002

Austrian legislative election, 2002

Early parliamentary elections were held in Austria on 24 November 2002, after internal divisions in the Freedom Party of Austria culminating in the Knittelfeld Putsch led to the resignation of several leading FPÖ members. The result was a victory for the ÖVP, which won 79 of the 183 seats, the...

).

On August 30, 2008, Peter Westenthaler was officially replaced as chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Austria

Alliance for the Future of Austria

The Alliance for the Future of Austria , abbreviated to BZÖ, is a conservative liberal political party in Austria. The party has sixteen seats in the National Council....

 (BZÖ) by party founder Jörg Haider

Jörg Haider

Jörg Haider was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Austrian Freedom Party and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Austria , a breakaway party from the FPÖ.Haider was controversial within Austria and abroad for comments...

.