A former leading Socialist politician avoids choosing between the four candidates for the party’s leadership and suggests that the MSZP should rebuild itself on the basis of spontaneous local movements. One of those candidates, in turn, suggests a shift to the left is needed in the MSZP.

In Népszabadság Imre Szekeres, who was a leading MSZP official for twenty years after the regime change in 1990, puts forward a draft party programme ahead of the party congress scheduled for June 25. He does not take a position on whether party chairman József Tóbiás should keep his post or be relieved by one of his three challengers. Whoever leads the party should be able to convince local movements that the party must coalesce in one nationwide force to vote the current government out of office.

In an interview with Socialist-leaning 24.hu, Tibor Szanyi MEP, one of the four candidates for the MSZP leadership says he intends to follow Bernie Sander’s and Jeremy Corbyn’s path, as politicians who ‘talk consistently about health care and education’. The MSZP should take a resolute left-wing turn and push its liberals into the background, the self-professed Marxist politician says. He considers the party’s fight against Sunday shop closures a mistake, for that ‘day of rest is an ancient conquest of the workers’ movement’.