Left on the edge of the abyss
May 21st, 2014A pro-government columnist suggests that a healthy democracy would require a stronger and more credible left-wing opposition to counterbalance the excesses of the government. A left-wing columnist contends in a bitter article that the Socialists have done nothing to renew themselves after their huge defeat at the April election.
The Hungarian Left is not able to serve as a counterweight to the government, Attila Kristóf writes in Magyar Nemzet. The pro-government columnist points out that democracy requires a strong opposition which is able to counterbalance the governing forces. The Left likes to claim that the Orbán government is becoming more and more dictatorial, but at the same time it has neither the credibility, nor the vision to contest and contain Fidesz, Kristóf remarks. He suggests that a stronger and more credible opposition would be welcome, for in its absence the government sometimes acts in a hasty and excessive manner. As the Left was not able to mobilize voters, Fidesz could again secure a two-thirds majority in the House, which foreshadows the lack of a strong counterweight to its power for another term, Kristóf concludes.
Since their huge defeat at the April Parliamentary election, the Socialists have been preaching about the need for radical change, but they have not done anything to reinvent themselves so far, Mihály Andor comments in Galamus. Without meaningful action, all talk about revamping the MSZP is nothing more than hot air, the left-wing sociologist claims. If the Socialists continue to postpone real change, they will end up with hundreds of committees discussing party reform – and without any elected representatives in the Parliament, Andor fears.