Stefan Petzner 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 is a member of the economical right 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....

 (Bündnis Zukunft Österreich, BZÖ). Petzner is a former reporter(of the styrian Kleine Zeitung

Kleine Zeitung

Kleine Zeitung is an Austrian newspaper based in Graz, Styria. It was founded in 1904 by the Katholischen Pressverein. The first issue was published on Tuesday, November 22, 1904. It was designed from the start as a paper to be read by the masses, covering general news topics and being very cheap...

)
and a student of journalism.

In June 2006 Petzner and Martin Strutz were jointly appointed secretaries general of the BZÖ. Petzner directed the election campaigns in 2006 and 2008.

Jörg Haider

After 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 death in a car accident on 11 October 2008, the party's executive committee nominated Petzner to succeed as party chairman.
In an interview on the same day Petzner declared in tears that Jörg Haider was his "Lebensmensch", i.e. the "person of his life".

On 19 October 2008, Petzner announced that he and Haider had been having "a relationship that went far beyond friendship" with the full knowledge of Haider's wife, Claudia. The Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

 reported Petzner's comments as "Jörg and I were connected by something truly special. He was the man of my life ... I loved him as a best friend." The article was titled: Was Austrian far-right leader Joerg Haider gay? Euronews ran the headline "Rumours of Joerg Haider’s secret gay life." Other reports had that “some say” Haider had died “after a furious row with the man who now claims to have been his lover.”

Petzner's statements were criticized within the party as misleading and fit to be interpreted as insinuating a homosexual

Homosexuality

Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

 relationship between Haider and Petzner. His party's officials made a rushed attempt to limit the damage for the image of their far-Right group and banned several other interviews that were to appear this week.

BZÖ

From 12 October to 19 November 2008 he served as acting party chairman but was succeeded by Herbert Scheibner. Petzner concentrated on directing the party's election campaign in the State of Carinthia

Carinthia (state)

Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...

 where, in March 2009, the party won a near-landslide victory taking over 45% of the vote.

As the party's designated leader, Petzner was also expected to be elected Klubobmann, i.e. chairman of the party's parliamentary group, but on 22 October 2008, Josef Bucher

Josef Bucher

Josef Bucher is an Austrian politician and is the leader of the Alliance for the Future of Austria . He is also a Member of Parliament for the party...

 was elected instead, with Petzner becoming one of the five vice chairmen. Petzner himself was reported to have suggested Bucher, who was elected unanimously. Bucher's election was widely interpreted as the result of the rising criticism of Petzner's earlier statements.

When on 30 January 2010, after the secession of the majority of party officials and members from the Carinthian party, Bucher was elected Chairman of the newly formed Carinthian BZÖ, Petzner was unanimously elected Acting Chairman (the position Jörg Haider had held from 2005 till his death).

On 8 April 2010 Petzner announced his resignation as Secretary General of the nationwide BZÖ. His simultaneous position as Acting Chairman of the Carinthian BZÖ, where after the break-away of the FPK - "The Freedomites in Carinthia" - a great deal of work was to be done, would require his full concentration. Only a week earlier he had disclaimed any such rumours as "attempts from a third party to disturb the Easter peace."