Commentators try to make sense of the two surprising elements of the news about the third government headed by Viktor Orbán – the planned transfer of several ministries in separate towns and the alleged feud between key Fidesz officials. READ MORE
A left-wing columnist suggests that the Left should focus on the plight of ordinary Hungarians living in poverty, rather than on left-wing elites whose concerns are distant from the problems of those living below the subsistence level. A centrist and a conservative commentator point out that it will be very hard for the Left to shift its focus and revamp its image. READ MORE
Left-wing commentators do not find the released documents convincing and suspect that they might serve electoral purposes. Nevertheless, the leading left-wing daily calls on Ferenc Gyurcsány to reveal what he knows about the matter if he wants to clear his name. READ MORE
Liberal columnists are highly sceptical about a new opposition pact which incorporates Ferenc Gyurcsány into Gordon Bajnai and Attila Mesterházy’s alliance. Some blame leading progressive intellectuals for interfering with the political process. In a lone optimistic column, a political analyst linked to the Socialist Party suggests that all is not yet lost.
Népszabadság suggests that a planned ‘exclusive review’ illustrates how the government is attempting to tame authors and artists. The internet is “aflame” with spicy reactions and young right-wing authors who have been queuing up to dissociate themselves from the project. READ MORE
Various commentators – including even some who otherwise deem the government’s performance appalling – believe that the opposition hardly stands a chance at the elections scheduled for next spring. READ MORE
A young and irreverent commentator urges the leaders of the Socialist Party to resign because of their amateurish handling of the Baja electoral video scandal. READ MORE
After a video surfaced showing Roma men exchanging money for votes in an apartment, centrist commentators question the credibility of the footage while left-liberal columnists lament the fact that the Hungarian Roma sell their votes because they see no other opportunity in politics. READ MORE
As the Hungarian government joins the dispute between Croatia and the MOL oil company, left-wing and centrist commentators believe that the Orbán government could defend the national interest abroad only by completely contradicting its own rhetoric against foreign investors present in the Hungarian energy sector. READ MORE
A conservative columnist accuses the left of radicalism, after Together 2014 leader Gordon Bajnai urged PM Orbán to step down and disappear from public life. Centrist pundits find Mr Bajnai’s performance pathetic, while the leading left-wing daily regrets the lack of a meaningful dialogue between the right and the left. READ MORE