Hungary parties maneuvering to oust ‘omnipotent’ Orban
Hungary’s left-wing parties are certain to fail at today’s presidential vote but have already won a victory of sorts, forming a rare united front against Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Ahead of next year’s general election, challenges to the powerful right-wing premier are taking shape on both left and right, although few are speculating they will be strong enough to turn Hungary’s populist tide.
The parliamentary vote for the largely ceremonial presidential role is a mere formality given that Orban’s ruling rightwing Fidesz party, in power since 2010, holds close to a two-thirds majority. In the last election five years ago, Orban’s ally Janos Ader ran uncontested. But on Monday, Ader, standing for reelection, faces respected former ombudsman Laszlo Majtenyi who has managed to unite normally warring leftist parties, all of whose 43 lawmakers in the 199-seat house have pledged to vote for him.
“It’s significant because for once they support a single candidate even though they don’t like each other,” analyst Csaba Toth said. The key question is whether that unity will lead them to support Laszlo Botka, mayor of the third-biggest city Szeged, as prime ministerial candidate. Botka, towering at nearly two meters in height, was put forward in December by the Socialists, the largest leftist party. A trained lawyer and exwater polo player who cuts a formidable figure, his competent running since 2002 of Szeged, the only major city not controlled by Fidesz, has earned the 44-year-old respect across party lines. Botka has accused strongman Orban of governing like a “king” and said the time has come for “new left-wing policies”.
Although a recent poll put Botka almost neck-and-neck with Orban in personal popularity, his Socialist party is much less popular, tainted by its roots as a communist party and a corruption-ridden spell in government. Botka insists he will only run if the fragmented left bloc, comprising some seven parties, stands behind him-a Herculean task given their current reluctance to cooperate. Under election rules most seats are won on a first-past-the-post basis, rewarding the monolithic Fidesz. Therefore without compromises and alliances, the leftist opposition can expect “total defeat”, local journalist Peter Peto said.