Fidesz candidate elected Mayor of Győr

Commentators ponder whether the victory of the government side at the Győr mayoral by-election puts an end to a series of opposition successes.

After Zsolt Borkai, the mayor of Győr who resigned because of his debauchery scandal, the new Fidesz candidate, Csaba András Dézsi won over half the votes, defeating the candidate of the united opposition. For the antecedents, see BudaPost, October through November 2019)

In Magyar Nemzet, Attila Borsodi describes the result as a symbolic victory for the governing party. He points out that the new Fidesz candidate got more votes than his predecessor. He believes the result is due to the personal qualities of the new mayor, who is a well-respected cardiologist and veteran city council member.

On Azonnali, Bence Pintér thinks the new mayor represents ‘another face’ of Fidesz. He has pledged to run the mayoral office in a more open way and to co-operate with the opposition. He also ignored advice to avoid talking to opposition news outlets. Pintér doubts, however, if his attitude will have many followers among the new generation of Fidesz politicians whom he describes as unscrupulous careerists. But if Dr Dézsi does keep his promise and the door of his office remains open to the opposition and civil society, he writes, then the population of the city will have made a good deal by electing him, ‘even if not all the skeletons will be removed from the City Hall cupboards’.

Tags: Borkai, by-election, Fidesz