Hungarian Left Wing 'In Crisis', Claims Twenty-First Century Institute

  • 13 May 2022 6:45 AM
  • Hungary Matters
Hungarian Left Wing 'In Crisis', Claims Twenty-First Century Institute
After their failure in the April general election, the coalition of opposition parties has fallen apart and, with the exception of the Democratic Coalition led by Ferenc Gyurcsány, the rivalling parties are in a state of crisis, according to an analysis of opinion polls carried out by the Twenty-First Century Institute.

Relative newcomer Momentum has been “struggling with a permanent leadership crisis”, the think-tank said.

Founding member and former leader András Fekete-Győr still dominates the party and as group leader “he will put his stamp on it” while the departure of Anna Donáth as Momentum’s leader “will cause uncertainty and managerial instability.”

The think-tank cited “information in the opposition press” suggesting an active connection between Gyurcsány’s party and the youthful Momentum movement. Gyurcsány wants to form a DK-Momentum coalition similar to the pre-2010 Socialist-Liberal coalition, it added.

Both LMP and Párbeszéd identify as green parties, the analysis said, but “they can hardly be called real parties as they lack a mass base and are led by media politicians”. LMP’s leadership, it added, was “quite unstable”, while the co-leaders of Párbeszéd indicated after the election that they would not run for office. Due to the uneasy election cooperation between the two green parties, environmental politics and their party identities have faded, the think-tank said.

Regarding the conservative Jobbik party, the Twenty-First Century Institute said the party had lost its nationalist credentials after teaming up with the left wing and taking up its positions on key international issues, including relations with Hungarians beyond the border and the European Union.

“The party is intellectually vacant,” the think-tank said. Even though Jobbik recorded “its biggest loss” in the general election, Péter Jakab was re-elected leader at a recent party conference by a dwindling number of delegates, indicating a shrinking party organisation and membership.

As radical party Mi Hazánk entered parliament for the first time, Jobbik’s room for manoeuvre has narrowed, and it will be impossible for it to return to its former right-wing narrative, the institute said.

Only the Democratic Coalition is stable and free of a leadership crisis, according to the think-tank. It is the sole party with a stable organisational hinterland and the resources to develop a strong opposition policy, it added.


MTI Photo: Tamás Kovács

  • How does this content make you feel?

XpatLoop Media Partner

Hungary Matters

Launched in January 2014, this newsletter published on week days covers 'everything you need to know about what’s going on in Hungary and beyond', according to its publisher the state media agency MTI.

  • Magyar: Fidesz 'Has Cheated' the Hungarian People

    Magyar: Fidesz 'Has Cheated' the Hungarian People

    • 23 Oct 2024 2:01 PM

    Leader of the opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar on Tuesday accused ruling Fidesz of having "cheated" Hungarians by "preaching" about a rural, family and child-friendly, bourgeois Hungary while making the country "the poorest and most corrupt country in the European Union".

  • Magyar: 'Orban is Like the Captain of the Titanic'

    Magyar: 'Orban is Like the Captain of the Titanic'

    • 21 Oct 2024 6:03 AM

    Peter Magyar, the leader of the opposition Tisza party, on Friday said Prime Minister Viktor Orban was like the captain of the Titanic, "driving the ship into an iceberg then lying to the passengers about how he'll steer it in their interest."

  • Special Series of Events to Celebrate Hungary’s EU Accession Anniversary

    Special Series of Events to Celebrate Hungary’s EU Accession Anniversary

    • 21 Oct 2024 5:41 AM

    The government has launched a series of events titled "1,100 years in Europe, 20 years in the European Union" with a budget of about 1,100 million forints (EUR 2.7m), celebrating the greatness of the Hungarian nation and the joy and pride of its existence as well as its EU membership, the deputy state secretary of the culture and innovation ministry said in Lenti, in western Hungary, on Saturday.