Left-wing infighting for leadership

After the emergence of two new left-wing candidates for the post of Budapest Mayor, commentators across the political spectrum ponder the Left’s chances of defeating Fidesz in the fall municipal elections.

Magyar Narancs in a first page editorial suggests that by announcing their own Budapest Mayoral candidates for the opposition primary later this month (see BudaPost June 28), the Democratic Coalition and Momentum may mobilize opposition voters. The left-liberal weekly finds it reasonable for the two parties that gained the most votes on the Left in the EP election to name their own candidates. Magyar Narancs takes it for granted that the government and its media will try to paint the left-wing mayoral preliminary as an indication of the opposition’s disunity. The authors, however, are confident that the competition for leadership will boost the Left, and, unless they make a big mistake, they can win Budapest.

In Index, Gáspár Miklós Tamás finds the intra-Left competition outright ‘disgusting’. The radical left-wing philosopher contends that the left-wing primaries are only about power and access to the financial resources of opposition parties that use left-wing slogans as branding tools, but abandoned authentic egalitarian ideology long ago. Tamás accuses the Left of being as hungry for power as the current government. He claims that the Left would be better off not running at all rather then being complicit in legitimizing the ‘dictatorship’ of Fidesz.

Magyar Hírlap’s Károly Bán ridicules the opposition for not being able to find consensual candidates. The pro-government columnist notes that the Left didn’t manage to increase its voting base in the EP election, and therefore they now want to woo voters from each other rather than attracting pro-government voters. Bán interprets the left-wing primaries in Budapest as proof of the Left’s inability to reach agreement.

Weeklies on new balance of power on the left

A right-wing analyst ponders whether Fidesz will once again have to face a single left-wing opponent, just like a decade ago, while left-wing commentators wonder whether Momentum will be able to represent a liberal pole on the Hungarian political scene. READ MORE

Big Fidesz victory forecast in EP election

Five weeks ahead of the European Parliamentary election, both pro-government and left-leaning pundits predict a Fidesz victory. READ MORE

Opposition parties still on the back foot

A pro-government and two left-wing liberal commentators find it unlikely that the opposition parties can seize the opportunity offered by the difficulties Fidesz is having with the European People’s Party to defeat the governing party in the near future. Another left-wing columnist is more optimistic, as he thinks that the opposition could successfully mobilize undecided pro-EU voters in the European Parliamentary elections. READ MORE

Left-Jobbik plans for an electoral alliance

An alt-left analyst warns that by allying themselves with Jobbik, the left-liberal opposition is taking a huge moral risk which might destroy its already torn credibility. READ MORE

Government and Opposition trade accusations of anti-Semitism

Left-wing and liberal commentators claim that the government’s philosemitic and pro-Israel messages are just window-dressing. A pro-government columnist finds it outrageous that the Left is willing to cooperate with the Jobbik party. A centrist pundit thinks that it is good news that all mainstream parties try to disavow anti-Semitism. READ MORE

Left-Jobbik alliance under fire

As PM Orbán and the President of the World Jewish Congress express mutual dismay over the prospect of an electoral alliance between the left-liberal side and Jobbik, commentators reassess the chances of that co-operation. READ MORE

First round of left-wing Budapest mayoral preliminary

As the Párbeszéd (Dialogue) candidate defeats the MSZP candidate in the first round of the Left’S Budapest mayoral preliminary election, both a left-wing and a pro-government columnist doubt whether the Left can defeat Fidesz in the capital. READ MORE

A liberal take on the Left’s alleged anti-Semitism

A liberal commentator thinks that the Hungarian government is accusing the Left of anti-Semitism for purely strategic purposes. He also claims that, in the meantime, the government side relies on anti-Semitic tropes. READ MORE

Left accused of whitewashing Jobbik’s racism

A pro-government commentator claims that Jobbik has remained an anti-Semitic party, and finds it nauseating that the Left is willing to cooperate with the party, nonetheless. READ MORE