Former PM Gyurcsány urges opposition coordination

As Ferenc Gyurcsány invites opposition leaders including Jobbik’s Gábor Vona to coordinate their electoral strategies, a pro-government columnist thinks that by the April election, a broad anti-Fidesz coalition of left-wing parties and Jobbik will emerge.

On March 15, Ferenc Gyurcsány invited the opposition parties to start negotiations to coordinate their strategy for the April election. The MSZP and LMP accepted the invitation and had their first meeting with the Democratic Coalition on Sunday. Jobbik leader Gábor Vona refused to negotiate with former PM Gyurcsány. On Monday, LMP frontrunner Bernadett Széll said she was willing to mediate between Mr Gyurcsány and Mr Vona in order to facilitate the cooperation of all opposition parties against Fidesz.

Magyar Hírlap’s Károly Bán believes that a ‘rainbow coalition’ of the opposition is in the making. The pro-government columnist recalls that a coordinated electoral strategy of all opposition parties including Jobbik was predicted by some right-wing media as early as  October last year. Bán interprets recent developments to suggest that Ferenc Gyurcsány is taking the lead within the opposition. Although both Mr Gyurcsány and Jobbik leader Gábor Vona have ruled out such co-operation, he suspects that it is only a matter of time before Jobbik joins the talks and agrees to run joint candidates against Fidesz in the 8 April election.

Tags: 2018, Gyurcsány, Jobbik, Left, opposition