Debate on a potential MSZP-Jobbik alliance
November 28th, 2016A left-liberal author argues for a broad alliance from Socialists to the radical right-wing Jobbik party in order to defeat the incumbent government. A left-wing pundit rejects the idea, while a right-wing analyst thinks it is unrealistic and unfeasible.
In Népszava, writer and former diplomat György Odze begins by noting that Jobbik has ceased to be as radical as it was at the beginning, and many undecided voters who would opt for change may judge Jobbik leader Gábor Vona the more likely winner than the divided left and its leaders. If neither the left nor Jobbik prove able to substantially increase their constituencies, Odze continues, a coalition between the two should be seriously considered. Even if they could not win a majority, at least they could put an end to the crushing numerical superiority of the governing forces in Parliament, he concludes.
On behalf of the Népszava editorial board, György Sebes flatly rejects the idea of cooperating with Jobbik, even if such an alliance could “save the country from Fidesz rule”. He doesn’t believe that “an extremist anti-Semitic and anti-Gypsy party” can make a sudden U-turn. He quotes Jobbik vice-chairman Tamás Schneider who spoke about a “division of labour” between the party and the extremist groupings and said Jobbik wanted to eliminate the left-wing opposition first and only face Fidesz afterwards. “The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend”, Sebes warns.
In Magyar Idők, Ferenc Kis believes the kind of “grand coalition” envisaged by Odze (and by veteran liberal activist Ferenc Kőszeg before him – See BudaPost, October 18) would be proof of a complete lack of morality on the left-liberal side. He recalls as a precedent the sudden alliance of the Liberal party with the Socialists in 1994. Nevertheless, he doesn’t believe that such an unexpected policy shift could be successfully completed today, because the supporters of Jobbik would never tolerate it. In fact, Kis believes, Jobbik has lost support lately and its sympathisers dislike the left-wing opposition much more than Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.