Small opposition parties at war?
July 27th, 2017A conservative commentator interprets a Reflektor article criticising Momentum as a sign of a pre-electoral war between LMP and Momentum. He assumes that the idea of an electoral alliance uniting them and two other small opposition parties is doomed to failure.
On Válasz, Bálint Ablonczy suspects that plans for a ‘new electoral pole’ are being scuttled before they are even launched. The idea of uniting four parties who claim not to be the heirs of the failed pre-2010 left-liberal governance was launched by Együtt (Together) chairman Péter Juhász in March. A recent Medián poll found that such a project could count on 16 per cent of the voters next year. Thus Párbeszéd (Dialogue) and Együtt could be helped to reach the 5 per cent parliamentary threshold by co-operating with LMP and Momentum. Ablonczy sees an article on Reflektor, a news site linked to LMP, as proof that those parties consider themselves as competitors rather than future allies. (LMP is the only one of the four parties mentioned that is projected to pass the five per cent threshold at present, albeit by a narrow margin) Reflektor’s Szabolcs Szalai sharply criticises Momentum for refusing to disclose the budget of their summer concert which featured half a dozen rock bands. Its spokesman said on ATV’s morning show that those expenses represented ‘a business secret’. How can Momentum demand transparency when it hides behind secrets itself? Szalai asks. Whereupon Ablonczy adds that this has been the third Reflector article taking aim at Momentum. “This is how things stand with the opposition Holy Alliance”, Ablonczy concludes.