Mesterházy leaves the MSZP
Thursday, April 6th, 2023The pro-government print daily devotes three comments in a single day to the decision by the former MSZP Chairman to leave the Socialist Party after 23 years in its ranks. READ MORE
Local council election won by Fidesz
Wednesday, May 24th, 2017A conservative analyst suggests that the current opposition doesn’t offer a political home to the new generation which has expressed its discontent in a series of recent mass demonstrations. Thus he believes that a Fidesz victory in next year’s elections is not in jeopardy. READ MORE
Bajnai hired by a global investment firm
Saturday, September 6th, 2014As former PM Bajnai is named Chief Operating Officer of the Paris based Meridiam investment firm, commentators on both the left and right agree that Bajnai is quitting politics. While a right-wing columnist considers this as good riddance for Hungary, a left-wing analyst blames Bajnai’s failure on Gyurcsány and Mesterházy. READ MORE
Reshuffle on the Left after the EP election
Monday, June 2nd, 2014Opinions diverge on whether the MSZP made the right choice in convening its congress for mid-July or if it was the result of a last ditch trick by the failed leadership. Analysts also think Fidesz is putting the Left in an awkward position with the planned new rules for the municipal elections in Budapest. What they do not know is what will enable left-wing parties to attract more voters rather than cannibalising each other. READ MORE
Mesterházy’s fall
Saturday, May 31st, 2014A left-wing analyst appreciates Attila Mesterházy’s decision to step down both as Socialist party leader and as faction leader in Parliament. He writes with disdain about one of Mesterházy’s former supporters who “stabbed him in the back”. READ MORE
A first take of the EP elections
Tuesday, May 27th, 2014The first analyses following the elections for the European Parliament agree that the Socialist Party was the main loser of the day. The absolute majority of Fidesz was no surprise, given the low turnout, and Jobbik was expected by most observers to come in second. But the poor showing of the MSZP was a shock for left-wingers and a cause for much schadenfreude for the Right. READ MORE
‘Don’t panic’ appeal to the MSZP
Tuesday, April 29th, 2014A leading left-liberal pundit cautions Socialist Party Chairman against hasty moves which have done so much harm to his authority since the elections. READ MORE
Fidesz to offer a pact to Socialists?
Saturday, April 26th, 2014A young pro-government writer suggests that Fidesz helped the Socialists to preserve their place in Hungarian politics, and now it is time for the MSZP to take up the offer and give up “the democracy agenda”. The author, a member of the Young Christian Democrats (affiliated with the Fidesz-KDNP coalition) recalls the so-called Bethlen-Peyer pact as an example which could be emulated today. READ MORE
Is the “Orbán régime” here to stay until 2022?
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014In their analyses on the causes of the defeat of the Left at the elections on 6th April, commentators across the political spectrum believe that there will be no left-wing alternative to the incumbent government until the far reaching lessons of two consecutive electoral catastrophes are learned. Opinions differ, however about what those lessons are. READ MORE
The Left stands accused of radicalism
Saturday, April 19th, 2014A pro-government columnist thinks the Left hasn’t learned the lesson of the elections and sticks to the radical language which, he suggests, caused its crushing defeat on April 6th. He predicts that these tactics will further weaken the left-wing opposition. READ MORE