Opposition backs candidate despite anti-Semitic slurs

A conservative liberal Jewish pundit finds it nauseating that opposition parties are willing to support what he calls an anti-Semitic, racist candidate in the October by-election in the district of Szerencs in north-east Hungary.

In Magyar Nemzet, Roma activist Jenő Setét made public that Jobbik’s László Bíró, the joint candidate of the opposition parties in the October Parliamentary by-election in Szerencs, made several anti-Semitic and anti-Roma comments on Facebook. Biró apologized for his statements, which he said were made several years ago, and called on opposition voters to support him.

On Neokohn blog, Jonathán A. Megyeri accuses left-wing and liberal parties of tolerating racial prejudice. He reads Bíró’s case as proof that the parties of the democratic opposition cannot cooperate with Jobbik politicians without compromising their core principles. Megyeri thinks that the opposition parties are wrong when they hope the political end of defeating Fidesz justifies the means.

Tags: anti-Semitism, Jobbik, Left, opposition