Opposition not yet in combat mode

A popular political analyst suggests that the opposition is too busy settling its own internal rivalries to successfully counter the government’s public relations offensive and to increase its own rating.

In his popular blog, Gábor Török dismisses the widely shared opinion that with the 10 per cent utility tariff cuts Fidesz has found the key to victory at next year’s elections. He remarks, first of all, that only two out of five recent public opinion polls have found a 5 point increase in Fidesz popularity. And even if their figures prove correct, this does not necessarily mean that the increase is due to the tariff cuts. On the other hand, apart from one lonely poll, we see no signs of the opposition losing (further) support. He admits that the Prime Minister’s staff have been professional in engineering and conducting the campaign around the tariff cuts, but what he finds more striking is the absence of a vigorous opposition. As long as the main opposition forces are operating in “primary mode”, they are too busy defeating each other, although they know that in the long run they will have to unite their forces, and that their internal scuffles might cause lasting damage. Török believes the infighting is nevertheless indispensable in order to decide who will lead the opposition in the electoral campaign and how many candidates each organisation can delegate in the constituencies. Until next autumn, by which time these issues will have to be decided, Fidesz will have an easy game to play with issues like utility tariffs. After that, Török predicts, a new era will begin.

Tags: opposition, polls, utility tariffs