Left-wing takes on the defeat of the opposition

The left-wing nationwide daily carries three opinion columns in one single issue on why the opposition suffered a crushing defeat in Sunday’s elections and what it should do next.

In Népszava, Rudolf Ungváry who defines himself as a conservative but is a vocal critic of the right-wing government believes that the politicians of the opposition only tackle the surface of what is going on in society, while PM Orbán’s Fidesz party builds itstheir strategy on deeply rooted feelings within the population. Namely, people first and foremost want to feel safe, and this is precisely what is being offered by what he calls an authoritarian government.

In the same daily, András Rostoványi thinks that the improvised alliance of disparate parties was bound to fail. Democracy, he writes, is not confined to campaigns and elections. The opponents of the government should constantly work with the electorate, understand their needs and desires, and propose adequate solutions to their problems. Instead of shedding tears, Rostoványi concludes, they should start doing that right away.

In a third Népszava column, Miklós Hajdú suggests that the defeated opposition should boycott Parliament. They cannot achieve anything there for the next four years, he explains, while their presence would just legitimise what he calls ‘a one-party system’.

Tags: election, opposition