Dark scenarios by Galamus

A left-liberal analyst believes PM Orbán can hardly be voted out of office. But he sees no solution either in his removal  by angry, discontented people. The only remaining option he can think of is a kind of coup d’état within the ruling élite.

On Galamus, political scientist Csaba Fazekas suggests that the governing right-wing majority had put an end to the rule of law as early as 2011, when it enacted the new Fundamental Law. He argues that the government is building a new political system where conformism is the rule. (One year before the next general elections, opinion polls show the Prime Minister’s party well ahead of its rivals.) The atmosphere reminds him of the last multi-party elections before Communist rule, in 1947, when the Communist-led left wing won in the shadow of the coming dictatorship. He believes next year’s election is the last chance for the opposition to vote Mr Orbán and his Fidesz party out of office, but he is not confident it will manage. Fazekas describes the ruling élite as a narrow circle where change is only possible if one of the disappointed members organises a coup d’état, or if large scale protests are sparked by economic hardships. He hopes the latter option can be avoided.

Tags: constitution, democracy, elections, Orbán