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An unnatural alliance – revisited

August 10th, 2011

The main left wing daily Népszabadság revives the idea of an alliance between the left and the far right, in order to defeat PM Viktor Orbán and undo his reforms – despite the fact that an initiative on these lines was rejected as unrealistic and counterproductive by all commentators and possible protagonists alike. In another sign of just how bitter political enmities are, the commentator evokes the example of an anti-Nazi alliance during World War II to make his case.

LMP, Hungary’s small left-wing green party is the only political group which has come out in favour of an ‘alliance of convenience’ of Socialists, Greens and the far right Jobbik, in order to win a two-thirds majority at the next elections. The only aim of that coalition would be to revoke the constitutional changes introduced by the present centre-right government, then dissolve Parliament and hold new elections, with the temporary allies then as adversaries. (BudaPost , July 14th and 15th.) Both Socialist and far right leaders have repeatedly ruled out the possibility of such an alliance, and commentators across the political spectrum have argued that even if they were to agree on joint candidates, their voters would not follow them. It was also argued that the Socialist charge against Orbán of conniving with the far right would lose all credibility if the Socialists themselves allied themselves with Jobbik.

Almost a month after the original proposal was made, Tibor Tamás suggests a reassessment of the LMP idea of a technical alliance of the three disparate groupings.  “It is obvious that Orbán is no Hitler and that the threat to Hungary’s democratic system is nowhere near what Germany became under the Nazis,” – writes Tibor Tamás. He believes however that there is another, more important analogy with WWII. Namely that Adolf Hitler’s “enemies were not natural allies, and they were only prepared to support one other when there were no other opportunities left.”

At this particular moment, the widest possible coalition against Fidesz seems to be nonsense, the author admits, but believes that situation will change when PM Viktor Orbán “makes life too uncomfortable for those who are not with him.”

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