Former PM Gyurcsány cautions supporters against gloating over Socialist misfortunes

The opposition Democratic Coalition needs partners to replace Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, DK leader Ferenc Gyurcsány has said, cautioning his supporters not to gloat over turmoil in DK’s left-wing rival, the Socialist Party, and urging the “democratic opposition parties” to agree on tactics for fielding candidates in Hungary’s 106 individual constituencies.

Referring to the recent resignation of László Botka as the Socialist Party’s candidate for prime minister, Gyurcsány insisted that all votes on the left wing counted, and DK could not assume Socialist voters would switch to DK in the 2018 general election.

“I am optimistic about the elections despite the developments of the past two days,”

the former prime minister told a public forum in Bonyhád, in southern Hungary, late on Tuesday.

Gyurcsány said his party expects to get 10-15 percent support at the 2018 elections. In every past election, DK scored better pollsters predicted, he added.

He insisted there was greater demand for change than for the status quo. If the opposition picks the right candidate with the best chances, ruling Fidesz will lose 60-70 constituencies and find itself in minority, Gyurcsány said.

Parties on the left should work together when it comes to putting up individual candidates but maintain separate party lists and identities, as this would attract more voters, he said.

One thing the diverse opposition parties have in common is that “they want a more normal European republic”, Gyurcsány added.

DK wants the other opposition parties to agree to amend the election law and strip non-Hungarian residents of their voting rights. Anyone who agrees with this policy should vote for DK, he said. Dissenters should pick another opposition party, he added. Any new governing coalition would then decide what to do about the election law, Gyurcsány said.

“The road is open to Fidesz’s defeat, the ruling party received 54 percent support in 2010, 45 percent in 2014 and will get thirty-something in 2018,” Gyurcsány said.

He told the forum attended by around a hundred people that there were much more important issues than migration, such as education, health care and the pension system.

Source: MTI