MSZP elects new leader

A left-wing commentator hopes that the MSZP can regain its popularity after electing a new party chairman. A pro-government pundit thinks that the MSZP would need to put ‘national interests’ first if it wants to renew itself.

On Sunday, the MSZP congress elected floor leader BertalanTóth as President of the Socialist Party with 54 per cent of the votes. 

In Népszava, Gábor Horváth thinks that the MSZP has the potential to renew itself and win back some of its lost popularity. The left-wing commentator sees the internal disputes as proof that the MSZP is a democratic party which incorporates diverse groups that are willing to cooperate and compromise despite their disputes. On that basis he hopes that the Socialists can increase their popularity and woo the support of voters discontented with the current government.

Magyar Idők’s György Pilhál describes the MSZP leadership as a group of insignificant people. In order to renew itself, the Socialists would need a nationalist social democratic leader, the pro-government columnist suggests. As neither of the candidates put the national interest first, it does not really matter after all who leads the MSZP down the same road, Pilhál concludes.

Tags: MSZP