Opposition primary campaign kicks off

As opposition politicians start to position themselves for next autumn’s two-round primary that will decide who will be PM Viktor Orbán’s challenger next year, a popular columnist opts for a non-party Christian candidate.

In a first nationwide poll on the popularity of potential candidates for Prime Minister among opposition leaning voters, MEP Klára Dobrev, the wife of DK leader Ferenc Gyurcsány came first with 28 per cent, followed by Jobbik leader Péter Jakab (27 per cent) and Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony (22 per cent). Péter Márki-Zay, the non-party mayor of Hódmezővásárhely and Momentum’s András Fekete-Győr are way behind, with 8 and 7 percent of respondents respectively.

Despite Márki-Zay’s low ranking in the poll, he is the candidate that Róbert Puzsér recommends to the attention of opposition voters in his Magyar Hang column. He believes the opposition can only win the election by recruiting masses of disappointed Fidesz voters – which is highly unlikely with anyone other than Márki-Zay, who is a conservative. Ms Dobrev’s candidacy would represent another battle in the culture wars, and as such would repel conservatives, he argues. Puzsér dismisses Karácsony’s nomination as well, because he sees his performance as Budapest Mayor as disappointing. As for Jakab, he suggests that his only theme is the personality of Prime Minister Orbán and thus he doesn’t represent a real alternative. Puzsér also deems Fekete-Győr highly incompetent. Opposition supporters, he concludes, must choose a candidate who ‘in addition to leading an electoral list, is also able to lead a country’.

Tags: Dobrev, Fekete-Győr, Karácsony, Márki-Zay, opposition