Dwindling support for opposition

As opinion polls show the steady attrition of the electoral base of the opposition parties, a pro-government columnist attributes their harsh rhetoric to their despair.

In Magyar Hírlap, Károly Bán calls the barrage of opposition accusations against the government for allegedly instituting a dictatorship completely unfounded. He lists a series of such charges which basically accuse PM Orbán of acting like an absolutist ruler who is the only and ultimate source of power in Hungary. Meanwhile, he continues, their own parties are in a state of utter desolation, with Ferenc Gyurcsány giving a loan on interest to his own party, Jobbik leaders buying votes in their feud with intra-party foes, and LMP leaders condemned by their own party for negotiating with the Left but refusing to resign as MPs. He interprets this behaviour as an expression of despair and disorientation as none of the opposition parties command even 10 per cent support among the electorate.

Recent opinion polls put both the MSZP and Jobbik at just below 10 percent of the total electorate. Among decided voters, both the MSZP and Jobbik are measured at 15 per cent, while neither the Democratic Coalition nor LMP would cross the 5 per cent parliamentary threshold.

Tags: opposition, polls