Election 2018 – Czeglédy withdraws candidacy in favour of Socialist-Párbeszéd candidate

Csaba Czeglédy, a left-wing politician and fixer who is in pre-trial detention for the suspected misappropriation of public funds, has withdrawn his candidacy in Szombathely for a parliamentary seat in favour of the candidate of the Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance.

Czeglédy was approved as an independent MP candidate in March and became eligible for immunity. However, his immunity was later lifted by the National Election Committee (NVB), and a Szeged court ordered that he be placed back into pre-trial detention.

He appealed to the Kúria, Hungary’s supreme court, over that ruling, but his appeal was rejected. Czeglédy also submitted a complaint to the Constitutional Court, which ruled that the NVB’s decision to strip him of his immunity was in line with the constitution.

Czeglédy’s decision to withdraw his candidacy was announced on Wednesday at a press conference by György Ipkovich, the former Socialist mayor of Szombathely.