He made the announcement at a press conference where Lajos Bokros, the mayoral candidate of the conservative Movement for a Modern Hungary (MoMa), was present.

Viktor Szigetvári, co-leader of the Együtt party, and Ferenc Gyurcsány, DK’s leader, pledged support for Bokros.

Gergely Bárándy, the head of the Socialists’ ethics committee, said that his party should not support Bokros. “If the Socialists want to stay faithful to their principles, they cannot support a politician that identifies with the right”, he said.

András Schiffer, co-leader of the green LMP, called it “ridiculous” that parties of the left should support Bokros, who “spent five years in a Eurosceptic and conservative group of the European Parliament”.

Lajos Kósa, managing deputy leader of ruling Fidesz, called the developments “farcical”, and suggested that “the whole team [the leftist parties] would be sent off” if the election were a sports match. Kósa insisted that Bokros was an advocate of “property tax, and pay-for health services and education”.

He compared Bokros to the every flavour jelly beans in Harry Potter, saying that “you cannot tell in advance whether he would taste like strawberries or bad eggs”.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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MTI Photo: Zsolt Szigetváry