Jobbik breaks with left-liberal parties

A left-wing columnist wonders how Fidesz can be voted out of office if opposition parties don’t form an electoral alliance.

Jobbik chairman Márton Gyöngyösi told Népszava earlier this week that his party will cease to cooperate with left-wing and liberal parties because such an alliance before last year’s parliamentary election resulted in a sizeable loss of grassroots supporters. In 2018, 18% of the votes were cast for Jobbik, while today, opinion polls put the formerly far-right, now Conservative party at only 6%.

In Népszava, Gábor Czene finds the announcement extremely worrying, as even with Jobbik included, the opposition alliance suffered a painful defeat at last year’s election. He understands that at present, the various opposition parties are busy trying to get above the 5% parliamentary threshold or are fighting for a leading position within the opposition. However, he continues, under the Hungarian semi-majoritarian electoral system, their disparate forces can only hope to unseat Fidesz if they unite behind joint candidates. If that doesn’t happen, Czene admits, he has no clue how the opposition can ever win an election.

Tags: Gyöngyösi, Jobbik, opposition