Post-electoral complaints on the Left
May 29th, 2014A left-wing pundit calls on the Socialists and their rivals on the Left to put an end to their infighting and start preparing for the municipal elections in October. Budapest can still be won, he thinks, if nothing else.
In Népszava, editor Péter Németh fears that the Left is squandering its only chance to score a resounding victory – even if only a partial one – in the municipal elections later this year, because its parties are too busy fighting each other, and the MSZP has fallen prey to bitter recriminations after two consecutive electoral defeats this Spring. On April 6th, he remarks, when the united left was heavily defeated by Fidesz, in Budapest the Right-Left balance was almost even. At the European parliamentary elections on May 25th, he explains, results in Budapest were not hopeless for DK and Together-PM, though they were for the MSZP. Németh warns that votes have simply been re-distributed among the three left-wing parties, while the Left as a whole has not gained any additional support. “Now they appear intent on committing every conceivable error to make sure they hand Budapest to Fidesz on a silver plate” – he fumes. The Socialists “have started to massacre each other, while the rest only care about their own positions.” In conclusion he asks if the opposition can’t help destroying itself or “will it be able to turn back from the brink.”