Former Jobbik luminary launches new party

A pro-government columnist explains that Jobbik’s move to a more moderate stance led to the creation of the radical right-wing Our Homeland Movement, as announced by former Jobbik vice-President László Toroczkai. 

On Saturday, the radical right-wing Ásotthalom Mayor László Toroczkai (see BudaPost through 2013) announced the new party Our Homeland Movement. Toroczkai, a former vice-President of Jobbik said that the new party would represent the radical and nationalist values Jobbik stood for, before Gábor Vona’s decision to move Jobbik to the centre. Toroczkai expressed the hope that the Our Homeland Movement would attract Jobbik as well as Fidesz voters. Former Jobbik spokesperson MP Dóra Dúró, who quit Jobbik after Toroczkai’s expulsion from the party, joined the movement and said that she would represent Our Homeland Movement in the Parliament.

Magyar Idők’s Ferenc Kis sees the launching of the movement as the result of Jobbik’s more moderate position. When Jobbik abandoned its radical message and the party leadership suggested that it would cooperate with the LMP and Momentum, this created a vacuum on the radical right, the pro-government commentator suggests. That vacuum is now being filled by the Our Homeland Movement. Whether the new party can gain popularity will depend on its ability to mobilize radical nationalist voters disappointed with Jobbik, Kis suggests.

Tags: Jobbik, Our Homeland Movement