Karácsony in for a tough second term
June 6th, 2024Analysts take Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony’s re-election on Sunday this week for granted but predict that he will not have a stable majority behind him in the city council.
On the Heti Világgazdaság website, Tibor Lengyel believes Karácsony will almost certainly be re-elected on Sunday. He is expected to get nearly as many votes as his two strongest rivals combined. However, he adds, the Left has been significantly weakened by the appearance of Péter Magyar’s Tisza Party – and the DK-led left-wing coalition behind the Mayor’s candidacy will not be able to muster a majority even if supported by smaller potential allies (Momentum and the Twin-Tailed Dog party.) Based on an analysis by the liberal Republicon thinktank, Lengyel thinks that the Tisza party, which is expected to come in second, would like to force the DK and Fidesz to form a factual coalition and thus, bolster its own image as an alternative to the ruling political élite as a whole. He thinks, nevertheless, that Karácsony will find it easier to develop some form of positive cooperation with LMP-backed independent mayoral candidate Dávid Vitézy and his council members. Although they are fiercely campaigning against each other, he writes, their views on urban development are reconcilable. In any case, running the capital with a fragmented city council, Lengyel writes, will require a lot of flexibility from Karácsony.