Post Tagged with: "Hungarian Left"

Péter Márki-Zay on February 24, 2022 in front of the Russian embassy in Budapest.

Hungary’s united democratic opposition announces election slate and is boosted by polls

Hungarian voters, spanning from Hungary to across the ocean in Canada, will head to the voting booths on April 3rd, 2022. And after 12 years in power, democratically-minded Hungarians will seek to end Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s authoritarian, corrupt and singularly cynical rule. What makes this national election different than the last three in which Mr. Orbán’s Fidesz party claimed […]

by · February 25, 2022 · Politics
Budapest at a standstill, thousands march against Erdogan, Orbán, Putin

Budapest at a standstill, thousands march against Erdogan, Orbán, Putin

The waitress in our favorite restaurant was livid. “I had to take a cab to get to work today because public transportation was shut down” – she complained. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was visiting Budapest on November 7 with massive closures throughout the city all day. Budapest came to a standstill. Thousands marched against the Turkish President’s visit, many […]

by · November 7, 2019 · Politics
Gergely Karácsony, Mayor-elect of Budapest.

Hungary’s democratic opposition scores major election victory

After nine years in the wilderness, Hungary’s opposition parties scored major electoral victories across the country and especially in Budapest in local elections, where a centre-left alliance of parties won the mayoral race, achieved a solid majority on the municipal council and won back nine districts from Fidesz. Moreover, support for Fidesz in the traditionally conservative and affluent Buda districts […]

by · October 14, 2019 · Politics
Klára Dobrev (left) and Ferenc Gyurcsány (right) cast their ballots on Sunday, with their family.

Ferenc Gyurcsány’s Democratic Coalition becomes largest opposition party in Hungary

The Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) and Jobbik both had their respective rendez-vous with destiny on Sunday night. At the same time, former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány’s Democratic Coalition (DK) and the fledgling Momentum party, both underestimated in opinion polls, caused much surprise by their strong showing in European Parliament elections in Hungary. The results were as follows, with turn-out at […]

by · May 27, 2019 · Politics
Gábor Fodor / MTI Fotó: Rosta Tibor

It may be time for the Hungarian opposition parties to throw in the towel

“What the opposition has been doing since the election is even worse than what it did before the vote. And that’s quite an accomplishment”… These words are from Ildikó Lendvai, former leader of the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP). She appeared on ATV’s Egyenes Beszéd show alongside Károly Herényi, a former politician of the now defunct Hungarian Democratic Forum–the party that […]

by · May 24, 2018 · Politics
Anett Bősz. Photo: MTI.

Hungarian opposition shows its pettiness yet again

While Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is still in full campaign mode, touring factories in small-town Hungary and taking photographs or sharing snacks with factory workers in a manner, which some have noted bears a striking resemblance to the “peaceful” days of the Kádár regime, the Hungarian opposition is yet again embroiled in in-fighting. This time, the fledgling Párbeszéd faction in […]

by · May 18, 2018 · Politics
Péter Győri. Photo: Balázs Mohai / MTI.

The opposition unifies behind mayoral candidate in key Budapest election

On Monday we learned that the opposition finally did what it should have done before April’s national election: it is rallying behind a single mayoral candidate in the central Budapest district of Józsefváros, in the hope of reclaiming it from Fidesz in a local election to be held on 8 July. With outgoing Józsefváros mayor Máté Kocsis moving to national […]

by · May 14, 2018 · Politics
Gergely Karácsony, as the joint MSZP-Párbeszéd candidate for prime minister. Photo: MTI.

The state of the Hungarian opposition ahead of the April elections

On Monday we learned that Gábor Fodor’s Hungarian Liberal Party will support the Hungarian Socialist Party and Párbeszéd in elections to be held 8 April 2018. While it is highly unlikely that the tiny Liberal Party’s logo would appear on the ballot alongside those of MSZP and Párbeszéd (doing so would require the joint list to pass a 15% threshold […]

by · January 15, 2018 · Politics
Ferenc Gyurcsány in ATV's studio.

Socialist disarray – Reactions and fallout in the Hungarian opposition

Former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány was a guest on ATV’s Egyenes Beszéd (Straight Talk) evening news program. The host, Egon Rónai, asked the leader of the Democratic Coalition: did he feel vindicated that after months of László Botka calling on him to step back from the front-line of politics, it was he who was was ultimately left standing? Would Mr. […]

by · October 3, 2017 · Politics
László Botka (left) and Gyula Molnár (right)

Hungarian Socialist Party in turmoil: prime ministerial nominee and vice president resign

László Botka, the Hungarian Socialist Party’s nominee for prime minister in the 2018 elections, and István Ujhelyi, MSZP’s vice president, both resigned on Monday, throwing the largest party of the democratic opposition into turmoil a mere seven months before the national vote. Mr. Botka claimed that “secret agents” of Fidesz within both MSZP and in the broader left-centre opposition made […]

by · October 2, 2017 · Politics