A left-wing pundit urges the left to return to its roots, address the burning problems ordinary people are facing and send messages which appeal to the gut feelings of the electorate. Otherwise the far right Jobbik party will monopolise discontent in Hungary. READ MORE
Both a conservative columnist and the leading left-wing daily hope that after losing its two-thirds majority in Parliament, Fidesz will be compelled to follow a more consensual path. READ MORE
A left-wing commentator dismisses the interpretation that Jobbik’s success in Tapolca was an indication of the radicalisation of Hungarian voters. In unison with other left-wing and conservative columnists, he also calls on the Left to abandon liberal ideology for a social democratic vision in order to challenge Jobbik.
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In the Tapolca by-election on Sunday, Jobbik candidate Lajos Rig won the nationalist party’s first ever seat in an individual constituency. Commentators across the political spectrum now consider Jobbik a potential challenger to Fidesz. READ MORE
Left-wing commentators lambast PM Orbán’s comments about ‘ancient ties’ between Kazakhs and Hungarians as opposed to Hungary’s place in the European Union “where we are politically equal but genealogically different”. READ MORE
The leading left-wing daily contends that Hungarians largely blame the brokerage house scandal on the government, but at the same time they expect it to intervene and solve the problem, rather than taking responsibility for their own decisions. READ MORE
A left-wing columnist speculates that traffic jams in Budapest caused by simultaneous major reconstruction works show the downside of centralized decision making. A conservative pundit claims that major urban development is worth a couple of months of nuisance. READ MORE
As the owner of the insolvent brokerage firm is taken into police custody, the leading left-wing daily contends that the authorities, by hesitating to take action in time, assisted Quaestor’s CEO in syphoning money off from the company. A pro-government commentator believes that the government was right to save public assets deposited in Quaestor. READ MORE
The leading left-wing daily accuses the government of using insider information to save public assets from brokerage houses which have filed for bankruptcy. A conservative economist welcomes the government’s proposal to use the private assets of the owners of brokerages to compensate investors in case of insolvency. READ MORE
Commentators believe the owners and managers responsible for the latest brokerage scandal should be placed under arrest to prevent them from spiriting away their wealth before it is confiscated. READ MORE