Election 2018 – Jobbik deputy leader calls on entire leadership to resign

Deputy leader of Jobbik Tamás Sneider has called on the entire leadership of the strongest opposition party to follow Gábor Vona in resigning after Sunday’s election defeat.

Jobbik gained altogether 25 out of 199 seats in Hungary’s next parliament with 19,33 percent of votes, with almost all votes counted.

Sneider expressed disappointment over the result in a letter sent to László Toroczkai, also a deputy leader of Jobbik, and posted on Facebook on Monday.

“All of us must resign … not only Gábor Vona. That includes you and me, too, since we have both been part of turning Jobbik into a people’s party,” Sneider said.

Sneider’s post came in response to Toroczkai saying in a Facebook post earlier that “Vona has failed, but Jobbik is alive”, adding that “it will kill Jobbik if Vona’s resignation is a mere manoeuvre”.

He said that after having failed to get close to governing in three consecutive ballots, Jobbik as a party comprising “thousands of decent people” would ultimately lose the chance ever winning a general election unless “it removes the obstacle preventing expansion”.

Előd Novák, an ousted deputy leader, said on Facebook that a party with over 20 percent support in 2014 could have expanded its voter base by addressing migration, but Vona had diverted the party from that path with “serious content changes” to its platform.

He said it would have been “more correct” had Vona set up a new party.

The task for Jobbik is to become “a party of principles” if it wants to win back its supporters, said Novák, calling Vona’s resignation “a charade”, given the board’s mandate expiring in May in any case.

“If his party’s future does indeed matter for Vona, he must pull into the background”, he said.

Featured image: MTI

Source: MTI