2 More Austrians Resign in Wake of Waldheim Election

Austria’s foreign and agriculture ministers resigned Tuesday, the second and third Socialists to quit the government since Kurt Waldheim was elected president despite allegations that he hid details of a Nazi past.

Foreign Minister Leopold Gratz and Agriculture Minister Guenter Haiden said they will not be joining the government to be formed by Franz Vranitzky next week, when he takes over from Chancellor Fred Sinowatz, who resigned Monday.

The Socialists were thrown into confusion by Waldheim’s big victory Sunday against Socialist candidate Kurt Steyrer, which political sources said was a turning point in Austrian politics after 16 years of Socialist rule.

Gratz said his view of Waldheim, the U.N. secretary general from 1972-1981, has been no secret. “I therefore feel on purely personal grounds I would be overtaxed in the future to carry out certain aspects of the foreign minister’s functions.”

Haiden, under criticism for months from farmers for a tough new wine law imposed after a major wine scandal in 1985, said on a Tuesday evening news program that he will also be stepping down.

Gratz, who became foreign minister two years ago and is also head of the Vienna office of the Socialist Party of Austria (SPO), now plans to devote himself fully to party affairs, Vienna Mayor Helmut Zilk said.

The Socialist party lost many of its voters to Waldheim in Vienna, a traditional stronghold, and Gratz’s return signals an attempt to revive the party’s flagging support.