October 5th, 2017
Liberal and left-wing commentators wonder what strategy the Left should follow at the 2018 election, after the resignation of the Socialist candidate for Prime Minister. They agree that the Left is in a mess, but come up with very different proposals to resolve the crisis.
Népszava’s Judit Kósa calls for a left-wing roundtable to find a new strategy for the Left. The left-wing opposition parties lack a leader and have diverse programs which makes cooperation in 2018 difficult. Kósa believes that the only way to get out of the opposition stalemate is to find a joint strategy through public discussion that involves all left-wing parties.
Writing in the same daily, Gyula Hegyi suggests that Mr Botka should reconsider his decision. The left-wing pundit thinks that Botka should do his best to retain power within his party, and pursue his social democratic vision at the 2018 election without cooperating with liberal parties. Unless Botka takes the lead, the MSZP is likely to fall apart, Hegyi fears.
In Heti Világgazdaság, András Hont thinks that the left-wing and liberal parties cannot resolve their crises before the 2018 election. The liberal commentator suspects that Mr Botka will not try to lead his party, which, in Hont’s view, is good riddance, as the MSZP’s welfare program was far too demagogic. Hont, on the other hand, also finds it very unlikely that the MSZP would now cooperate with the Democratic Coalition. The most likely scenario is that the Socialists and Gyurcsány’s Democratic Coalition will run separately at the 2018 election, both hoping that they can become the dominant party on the Left – in the 2022 election.
Tags: 2018, Botka, Democratic Coalition, MSZP, opposition
