Thousands protested on Thursday (June 16) against the government’s planned changes to the early retirement system. Right-wing commentators detect political motives behind the protests, while left-wing media interpret the demonstrations as a plea for democracy and the rule of law. Both sides appear to assume that a reasonable compromise is not an option. READ MORE
“Is Ferenc Gyurcsány a left winger?”, asks Figyelő’s commentator two days before a Socialist congress, at which the party is expected to choose between two rival strategies.
Hungary simply cannot afford to spend twice as much on its debt-servicing, as it earns from the growth of its GDP– a pro-government analyst remarks, in defence of the legislative policies of the ruling coalition. READ MORE
Hungary has grown accustomed to overspending and over-borrowing, and its political parties have fed the population a diet of unrealistic welfare promises. But the leading conservative commentator believes the present government has chosen a new path. READ MORE
Until recently, the Socialists were keen to keep their internal debates and conflicts in a more or less intellectual channel. But not any longer– writes Népszabadság, on the expanding political tensions within the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP). READ MORE
What is at stake in the struggle for the leadership of the Socialist party is not so much which ideological line to follow, but rather who will control the financial and organizational resources of the party, a right wing commentator suggests. READ MORE
Political tensions within the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) have become ever more visible in the last few days. “The party has set out on the road of political self-mutilation” suggests political analyst Gábor Török in his blog. Should the Socialists split, he concludes, the real winner would be the governing conservative party, Fidesz. READ MORE
Infighting within the Socialist Party is now continuing in broad daylight as party strongman László Puch calls on former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány to leave the Socialists in peace and build his own party.
Mr László Puch is Mr Gyurcsány’s stiffest influential opponent among the Socialists. After a decade spent as party treasurer then a short period as state secretary, he is now running the party’s organizational and financial matters in his quality as party manager. READ MORE
Former Socialist Party chairman and Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány “is not the man capable of resurrecting Hungarian liberalism from the ashes, but is rather one capable of taking the place of and sucking the air from a missing, authentic Hungarian liberal party” – argues Hungary’s number one liberal commentator Sándor Révész in Élet és Irodalom. READ MORE
“Viktor Orbán has lost his marbles”, according to Zsolt Gréczy, an aid to former Socialist Premier Ferenc Gyurcsány. In his blog on Stop.hu he accuses the Prime Minister of having instructed the Chief Prosecutor to ask Parliament to suspend Mr Gyurcsány’s immunity. READ MORE