Who will challenge Orban in Hungary
Massimo Congiu's analysis taken from International Affairs
In Hungary, the run-off of the primary elections is underway that the opposition bloc to the Fidesz government, made up of seven parties, has organized to elect Viktor Orbán's challenger in next year's elections. This is an unprecedented modality for Hungarian politics.
Three names were to emerge from the group of five candidates in the first round: they are those of Klára Dobrev , vice president of the European Parliament and candidate of the Democratic Coalition (Demokratikus Koalíció, Dk, center-left); Gergely Karácsony , current mayor of Budapest and deputy for Dialogue for Hungary (Párbeszéd Magyarorszáért, center-left ecologists), finished second in the first round despite leading the polls; and Péter Márki-Zay , independent candidate, conservative centrist mayor of Hódmezővásárhely (Southern Hungary) who in 2018 had prevailed in the administrative over the government forces.
A bulky husband
However, the three candidates in the running were reduced to two when Karácsony, in recent days, withdrew his in favor of Márki-Zay. Both are persuaded that Dobrev is not the most suitable figure to represent the common list as the wife of Ferenc Gyurcsány , leader of DK and former socialist prime minister. A controversial figure in the Hungarian political world. To be more precise, it should be remembered that this is the former prime minister who in 2006 won the elections against Viktor Orbán's Fidesz and who, that year, allegedly admitted in a closed-door meeting with his own that he lied to voters to win their favor .
The recorded conversation was then made public through the media causing heated protests, the assault on state television and various riots. A period of great tension characterized by a permanent garrison of protesters that lasted about a month, in Budapest, on the square in front of the Parliament. They clamored for Gyurcsány's resignation, which they accused of having betrayed the people. The latter did not resign and his political opponents and detractors had to wait until 2009 to see the end of his career as prime minister.
ONE FOR ALL…
Returning to the primary, Karácsony's step backwards was motivated by tactical reasons. The mayor of the Hungarian capital believes that in order to have a chance against Orbán, next year in April – when the legislative elections are scheduled – it will be necessary to oppose the current prime minister with a figure who is able todialogue with a large electorate . A figure who knows how to gain support not only within the center-left but also among the liberals and the moderate right.
For Karácsony, long supported by the Hungarian and international press as an alternative to Orbán, Márki-Zay is better suited than Dobrev to officially represent the demands for change brought forward by the common list.
Forty-nine years old, born in Hódmezővásárhely, a town of just over 43,000 inhabitants of which he has been mayor since 2018, Péter Márki-Zay comes from a conservative and religious family. Figure as a politician, historian, economist, marketing expert and electrical engineer. He is the founding president of the All Hungary Movement (Mindenki Magyarországa Mozgalom), born in 2018 and now intent on focusing on supporting the united opposition in next year's vote.
Born in Sofia to a Hungarian mother and a Bulgarian father 49 years ago, Klára Dobrev has been Vice-President of the European Parliament since July 2019, where she is part of the Socialists and Democrats group. She is the one who presented herself in the last European elections with the slogan “Let's found the United States of Europe”, obtaining a result that went well beyond the polls: 16.05%.
… AND ALL AGAINST VIKTOR
One of the two will be entrusted with the hopes of change of those who do not fit into the political horizon indicated by Orbán. It is the first time since the leader of Fidesz has been in power, that is, since 2010, that the Hungarian party opposition has managed to create an agreement at the national level. Thus was born the front of seven parties that goes from the socialists to the nationalists of Jobbik through greens, centrists and liberals.
This bloc intends to fight against the corruption that attributes to the system led by the premier and against the diversion of public and community funds to environments that are part of the governmental circle in various capacities, to restore the rule of law and full freedom of the press, independence of the judiciary, rewrite the Constitution and change the electoral law that favors the government. The ballot will be voted on until Saturday 16 October, the next day the results of this consultation should be announced.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/chi-sfidera-orban-in-ungheria/ on Sun, 17 Oct 2021 05:17:53 +0000.