The government’s tough and uncompromising determination has successfully convinced the banks that they have to do more to help indebted Hungarians, struggling to service their loans in foreign currencies, a pro-government commentator believes. READ MORE
A left-wing commentator believes that the government wants to stigmatize the Socialists by establishing in law that the Socialist Party (MSZP, the successor of the Communist MSZMP), shares responsibility for the crimes of the pre-1989 regime. A right-wing observer, however, welcomes the proposal and suggests that victims of the Communist era should be compensated. READ MORE
Left wing commentators agree that Socialist leader Attila Mesterházy has embarked on a rough road, by asking party veterans to step aside. A right wing columnist calls the initiative a belated appeal. READ MORE
Magyar Nemzet believes that the split of the Socialist Party is part of a strategy to maximize votes in the next general elections, while former PM Gordon Bajnai waits in the wings. READ MORE
A columnist in Népszabadság believes that the split in the Socialist Party will not take the country forward. A publicist in the pro-government Magyar Hírlap suggests former PM Ferenc Gyurcsány received a major blow from his former party chairman as he set up his new party. READ MORE
The major left wing daily compares Ferenc Gyurcsány’s position to the Palikot Movement in Poland, while a right wing publicist believes that the former PM will end up disintegrating the Socialist Party. READ MORE
Pundits across the political spectrum have recently been preoccupied with the question whether a broad coalition on the left could successfully replace Fidesz at the next election. Left-wing commentators warn that electoral success alone would not amount to victory, since a too broad anti-Orbán alliance without a clear vision would not be able govern the country. READ MORE
According to a moderate conservative fact-finding journalist, the beleaguered former PM and Socialist Party chairman Ferenc Gyurcsány intends to set up a broad left-wing coalition, with his immediate successor, Gordon Bajnai as PM Viktor Orbán’s challenger. READ MORE
Journalists and political analysts of both leftist and conservative inclinations wonder who might emerge as a rival to Viktor Orbán either as prime minister or as right-wing leader. The centre-right governing coalition is losing support, but the opposition parties have failed so far to increase their own popularity. READ MORE