Left urged to hold primaries

A left-wing columnist recommends US-style primary elections as a method to reach a credible program and common platform, rather than bombarding the public with increasingly radical messages.

Left-wing parties focus mostly on peppering the public with alarmist announcements rather than advancing credible policy suggestions, Péter Pető suggests in Népszabadság. The left-wing commentator likens the intra-Left fight between 2010 and 2014 to a “comedy of fools” and cautions against continuing that performance, as it is unlikely to help the Left to overcome its systemic problems. Instead of lofty media stunts, Pető proposes that the Left should hold primaries before the next Parliamentary elections. Primaries, Pető believes, would help the Left unite and overcome the current disputes which fragment it and confuse left-leaning voters. Primaries would also help the Left to strengthen its legitimacy, Pető adds. In conclusion, he notes that if the fragmented Left is unable to organize primaries, it is unlikely to live up to bigger challenges including governing the country.

Tags: Left, opposition