Can Jobbik and LMP overcome left-right divisions?

One centrist and one pro-government analyst agree that Fidesz seems to have stabilized its electoral support by putting migration in the focus of its rhetoric. They also wonder if potential Jobbik-LMP cooperation could overcome the Left-Right division, and thereby challenge both Fidesz and the left-wing opposition by 2018, the next election year.

In Heti Válasz, political scientist Gábor Török and Ágoston Sámuel Mráz in a joint interview discuss if and how Fidesz’s hegemony could be challenged. PM Orbán’s decision to put migration in the centre of its rhetoric has paid off, Török and Mráz claim in unison. Sending strong anti-immigration messages has helped Fidesz stabilize its base and take the wind out of Jobbik’s sails.

Both analysts agree that the old left-wing parties do not seem to be able to mount a credible challenge to the governing centre-right. The main left-wing parties are still as polarized as before the 2014 elections, and have learnt nothing from their defeat, Török suggests. The moderate analyst adds that as former PM Gyurcsány’s Democratic Coalition catches up with the MSZP, a compromise agreement on who actually leads the Left is receding yet further beyond the horizon. Török ponders whether the radical right-wing Jobbik and alternative left-wing LMP could cooperate at least informally, and together overcome the right-left divide. If they were to succeed to efface left-right splits and jointly challenge traditional left and right-wing parties, they could possibly become a huge headache for Fidesz, Török speculates. Mráz, however, doubts if a Jobbik-LMP rapprochement is possible, bearing in mind the ideological differences dividing them.

Tags: Democratic Coalition, Fidesz, Jobbik, LMP, MSZP