Socialist candidate for Prime Minister resigns

As the MSZP frontrunner withdraws his candidacy for the post of Prime Minister, a left-wing and an independent conservative columnist think that the Left may face a catastrophic defeat in next year’s election. A pro-government columnist welcomes Mr Botka’s decision. 

On Monday, MSZP candidate for Prime Minister László Botka announced his resignation. Mr Botka blamed Fidesz for his failure to unite the Left and create a joint electoral list. The governing party, in his view,  to Fidesz, ‘has shrunk from no means’ in its effort to prevent cooperation among the left-wing parties, including the establishment of a ‘political mafia’ within the Left, and even within his own party, the MSZP. He added that those left-wing parties that rejected his offer are preoccupied with securing themselves seats in Parliament rather than replacing the current government. 

Népszava’s Gábor Horváth calls Botka’s resignation a tragic event. The left-wing commentator fears that the MSZP frontrunner’s decision will further weaken the Left and lead to total chaos on the opposition turf. The rivals of the Socialists, he explains, may profit from MSZP’s weakness in the short run, but it makes it even more likely that Fidesz will again secure a two-thirds majority in Parliament next year. In that case, Horváth believes, it would become extremely difficult for the opposition parties to rise and mount credible challenge to Fidesz any time soon.

In Magyar Nemzet, Albert Gazda likens the MSZP’s performance to a tragicomedy. The centrist columnist recalls that the MSZP has been in  decline since the late 1990s. Gazda thinks that the Socialist party may soon experience the fate of the SZDSZ and the MDF, the MSZP’s main challengers after the shift to democracy in 1990, which have already disappeared from the Hungarian political scene.

In Magyar Idők, Ottó Gajdics believes that Mr Botka should not blame his failure on external factors. The pro-government commentator thinks that he has not been any less corrupt than other politicians on the Left and thus finds it not at all surprising that Botka could not convince voters of his fitness to govern. In conclusion, Gajdics hopes that all left-wing politicians who try to raise support by blaming all ills on PM Orbán will follow in Botka’s footsteps and disappear from public life.

Tags: 2018, Botka, Left, MSZP