Left-wing analysts comment on the latest opinion polls, and speculate that the governing party’s decline cannot be stopped. Liberal and moderate centrist commentators believe that any suggestion that the government’s fall is inevitable is mere wishful thinking. Conservative columnists call for more caution and sensitivity in the practice of government. READ MORE
A left-wing commentator contends that the Left needs to perform an ideological U-turn in order to connect to everyday voters and lay the groundwork for a possible future coalition government with Fidesz.
Commenting on a Friday rally held by teachers’ trade unions opposed to the government, the leading left-wing daily cautions against organizing demonstrations if no large scale participation is ensured. A moderate analyst suggeststs that the Left has alienated the trade unions, their natural allies, by embracing neoliberal doctrines. READ MORE
Writing in a leading left-wing daily, a former head of the Hungarian Banking Association accuses the Socialist Party of disrespecting core social democratic principles and symbolism. His advice, he writes, is offered in the spirit of constructive criticism. READ MORE
A liberal columnist finds it highly problematic that the Socialists support a candidate with past KGB affiliation in a parliamentary by-election scheduled for the end of November. READ MORE
A pro-government columnist predicts that the left-wing parties will continue their battle for ideas and leadership as Socialist leader Tóbiás announces plans to distance the MSZP from the liberal opposition parties. A left-wing commentator welcomes his plan to reconnect with poor voters in the countryside who have been lured away by Jobbik. READ MORE
A left-wing pundit exhorts left-wingers to go to the polls on Sunday, even if the odds are bad, and then start rebuilding the Left from scratch the day after, lest it disappear altogether. READ MORE
Commentators from right across the political spectrum agree that the Left is in complete disarray and chaos, as the left-wing Budapest mayoral candidate resigns and left-wing parties fail to reach an agreement on whether they should back a conservative candidate instead of Falus in the October 12 local election. READ MORE
A Marxist pundit expresses his complete lack of surprise if at the October local elections, the Left receives its third consecutive blow from voters this year. The Left’s unpopularity is due to its inconsistent politics, he suggests, and without a complete overhaul, it has no chance to regain its strength.
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