Fidesz said in a post on Facebook on Thursday that DK MEP Klara Dobrev would be at the helm of the leftist party and remain "pro-Ukrainian", "just like the Tisza Party and [its leader] Peter Magyar".

Klára Dobrev announced that Ferenc Gyurcsány will always enjoy the friendship, love and respect of the entire DK community.

MEP Dobrev also stated that the party presidency had taken note of Gyurcsány's decision and that a new president would be elected.

The MEP wrote that difficult times require difficult decisions. In her words, today we are "living in difficult times", not only us Hungarians, the whole world is boiling and changing.

She added that they have been talking a lot lately about what would be best for Hungary, the Hungarian left, and the DK, as they could protect the country from now " definitely becoming a playground for the populist right."

Changes most often create fear, but the left can never be afraid of change, especially not today, the MEP stated.

"We are not afraid to change. We are changing and opening a new era," she wrote.

Klára Dobrev indicated that DK is the only Hungarian party in which the president is elected by the entire party membership, and that the presidential election will be held within weeks. 

She also announced that she will run for the position, and that executive vice president Csaba Molnár will lead the party during the interim period.

Dobrev: 'My time has come'

"My time has come and I am not alone," Klara Dobrev, presidential candidate of the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK), said on Facebook on Friday.

A day after Ferenc Gyurcsany, her husband, resigned from his post of DK chair, Dobrev said she felt "able and ready to fight again".

She said she could not abandon her community of "struggling mothers, young people striving for a better life, and those that are nearing the end of their years but who are still full of plans and confidence".

"Hungary deserves more; it could be made a fairer, more loyal and more European place," she said. "A country cannot be kept in darkness. Honesty is not weakness, while love and empathy are not naivety but strength," Dobrev added.

DK: Dobrev to lead left down new path

The opposition Democratic Coalition is embarking on a new chapter and down a new path with Klara Dobrev as its leader, the party’s deputy leader said on Friday.

Addressing the subject of former DK leader Ferenc Gyurcsany’s resignation and retirement from public life, Csaba Molnar told a press conference that DK’s community considered Gyurcsany "the country’s most honest prime minister" after the fall of communism.

He noted that DK MEP Klara Dobrev has announced her candidacy in the party’s next leadership election, adding he was certain that she would be elected.

DK’s leadership election is scheduled to be held online between May 28 and June 1, Molnar said, adding that he will serve as the party’s acting leader until a new one is chosen.

He confirmed that DK will run its own party list and candidates in all 106 constituencies in the 2026 general election and announced that Dobrev plans to continue as an MP after the ballot.

Gyurcsany’s seat in parliament will be taken up by deputy leader and former MEP Sandor Ronai, he said.

Molnar also said that Dobrev is scheduled to give a speech on the essence of DK’s policies this Sunday.

Asked why Gyurcsany chose to retire now, Molnar said the former prime minister wanted to "put an end, once and for all, to the right getting away with all its crimes by pointing the finger at him".

 As regards the timing of Gyurcsany’s announcement, he said the former leader wanted to give the new leadership enough time to prepare for the 2026 election.

"Gyurcsany resigned of his own volition; no one pressured him to do so," Molnar said.

He also said there was no link between Gyurcsany’s resignation and his divorce from Dobrev.

Source: 
MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881.

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