Left urged to move to the centre
December 2nd, 2014A left-wing commentator contends that the Left needs to perform an ideological U-turn in order to connect to everyday voters and lay the groundwork for a possible future coalition government with Fidesz.
To regain its strength, the Left needs to move to the ideological centre, István Krómer writes in Népszava. The left-wing commentator believes that the Left has been hijacked by liberal intellectuals who are waging culture wars rather than addressing issues which really matter to average voters. Left-wing constituencies are not in the least interested in the worries of liberal intellectuals about what they see as the restoration of the Nazi past and the weakening of checks and balances, Krómer believes. He goes on to recommend that instead of abstract and theoretical debates, the Socialists should emulate PM Orbán’s strategy and listen to people and offer answers to their everyday concerns. He believes that hundreds of thousands of voters who are dissatisfied with the current government could be wooed in this way. Pondering the prospects of the Left, Krómer considers that it would also be important for the Socialists to abandon the vilification of both right-wing parties. It is highly unlikely that the Left could in the near future become popular enough to form a government without a coalition partner, and thus it should open either to Fidesz or Jobbik. Krómer speculates. He suggests that the core values of Fidesz, including jobs, families, national ownership and order are not at all alien to traditional left-wing constituencies, and thus if the Left can shed its current liberal intelligentsia, it can open up to these voters by co-opting the messages of Fidesz.