Opposition PM candidate Márki-Zay really ‘posing as conservative’ to get more votes?

Péter Márki-Zay, one of the two remaining candidates vying for the joint opposition’s prime ministerial nomination for 2022, “is merely posing as a conservative to attract more votes”, according to political analyst Dániel Deák.

Deák, chief analyst of the 21st Century Institute, told public broadcaster Kossuth Rádió on Sunday that Márki-Zay’s “conservative” label was a “communications stunt” aimed at winning over voters outside the left-wing base, arguing that the Hódmezővásárhely mayor “doesn’t believe that opposition voters alone are enough to win an election”.

Deák said the opposition primary debates had already revealed that Márki-Zay “isn’t thinking of implementing a right-wing election programme at all”.

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He also cited past remarks from Márki-Zay in which the mayor urged cooperation with Democratic Coalition leader and former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány and spoke highly of his infamous 2006 speech to a closed event of the Socialist Party in Balatonöszöd, in which Gyurcsány admitted to lying about the state of the economy to win the election.

Erik Tóth, chief analyst of the Centre for Fundamental Rights, said the opposition’s primary election was planned out ahead of time.

Moreover, he said it had been expected that one of the prime ministerial candidates would withdraw and that there had not been as many electoral district candidates running as there could have been. However, such arrangements were not possible without “backroom deals”, he said.

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Source: MTI