Post Tagged with: "LMP"

Hungarian parliament on Monday, 18 February, after the entire opposition walks out in protest.

Opposition parties stage parliamentary walk-out and stand in solidarity with Suzuki workers

Hungary’s opposition parties presented a unified front Monday in walking out of a session of parliament to protest the widely panned overtime law, more colloquially known as the “slave law.” Rather than participating in the work of parliament, where the ruling Fidesz party has a two-thirds majority and where there is absolutely no chance for the opposition to effect change […]

by · February 18, 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
Magyar Nemzet, with the news of Jobbik leader Gábor Vona resigning on its cover.

Hungary’s Magyar Nemzet newspaper to shut down and Heti Válasz weekly in crisis

Hungary’s largest circulation national daily newspaper, Magyar Nemzet, announced that it is ceasing publication–both in print and online. A few hours later we learned that a 26 year old politician whose mother happens to be Viktor Orbán’s ally and historian, has the millions of euros at his disposal, through a family inheritance, needed to buy the country’s main daily newspaper, […]

by · April 10, 2018 · Politics
Election signs for Mr. Karácsony and the MSZP-Párbeszéd supported candidate in Pécs.

Tactical voting and the struggle to unite the Hungarian opposition in the 11th hour

Five days before the 8th April vote, opposition parties are struggling to unite in swing ridings, and key politicians are contradicting each other. According to reports published in Index on Tuesday afternoon, the Hungarian Socialist Party – Párbeszéd alliance (MSZP-P) decided to withdraw its candidate in Central Budapest in favour of Antal Csárdi of the Politics Can Be Different party […]

by · April 3, 2018 · Politics
Péter Márki-Zay on election night in Hódmezővásárhely.

A small Hungarian town exposed the fallacy of the Orbán regime

János Lázár, the Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, tried to find a silver lining in the 16-point landslide defeat that the ruling Fidesz party suffered on home turf–in the solidly conservative town of Hódmezővásárhely. Before congratulating the united opposition’s candidate, Péter Máki-Zay, Mr. Lázár kept repeating that Fidesz had not lost any votes in this elections. With 9,468 votes […]

by · February 26, 2018 · Politics
Závecz Research

Polling data: Fidesz support drops slightly

A new Závecz Research poll shows that Fidesz support is down by one percent, while the number of Hungarians who would like a change in government rose by three percent, from 40% to 43%, based on polling data gathered in February. It’s worth noting that this was the last poll conducted prior to the official launch of the election campaign. […]

by · February 21, 2018 · Politics
The Medián poll for January 2018, appearing in HVG.

Fidesz support drops by 7 percent according to Medián poll

According to a Medián poll released Wednesday, Fidesz has seen its support drop by 7 percent among decided voters. As the campaign ahead of national elections on 8th April heats up, the poll shows that more Hungarians are planning on exercising their vote–going from 52% in early 2017 to 56% at the end of January 2018. Historically, higher turn-out tends […]

by · January 31, 2018 · Politics
Freedom House: Hungary is the least democratic country in the EU

Freedom House: Hungary is the least democratic country in the EU

A Freedom House report, out this week, categorizes Hungary as the least democratic member state of the European Union. The American conservative think tank, which has been critical of Viktor Orbán’s rule before, argues that democracy faces its most serious challenge in decades and is in crisis in many parts of the world. “Its basic tenets—including guarantees of free and […]

by · January 16, 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
László Domokos, former Fidesz politician, currently president of ÁSZ.

The Hungarian State Audit Office’s assault on democracy

Perhaps nothing sums up the state of the rule of law in Hungary better than the Hungarian State Audit Office’s (ÁSZ) selective enforcement of regulation aimed at penalizing opposition parties (and likely driving one of them into bankruptcy), whilst dismissing the same rules when it comes to the ruling Fidesz party. The head of the State Audit Office is none […]

by · January 9, 2018 · Politics