Jobbik elects moderate as party leader

The strongest opposition party, Jobbik has elected as leader Tamás Sneider, seen as the more moderate of the two candidates to head the party.

Sneider garnered 298 votes, or 54 percent, of the party’s 556 delegates,

party spokesman Ádám Mirkóczki told reporters on the sidelines of the congress on Saturday.

László Toroczkai, the other candidate who represented hardline elements in the party, garnered 46 percent of the votes, Mirkóczki said, adding that two delegates cast invalid votes.

Asked about the close outcome and the possibility of a party split, Mirkóczki said two “very strong” candidates had competed for the post and neither had been expected to reach a decisive 80-20 percent win. “Never before in Jobbik’s history has the leadership vote been this tight,” he added.

Outgoing leader Gábor Vona opened the congress with an assessment of the leadership’s past two years, Mirkóczki said, describing Vona’s speech as “sufficiently critical and objective”.

Sneider and Toroczkai followed, each with a 12-minute speech.

Asked about a delegate who threw his ballot card at the press when leaving the room, Mirkóczki said they must have backed Toroczkai. “But overall, the mood of the congress was not at all like that,” he said, noting that no more than 10-15 delegates had left the event.