Leftist Opposition Nearing Agreement on Candidates for Local Elections

Budapest, August 4 (MTI) – Parties of the leftist opposition have prepared a draft agreement concerning their candidates running for the mayor of Budapest and for district mayors.

The leadership of each party will make their decision on the draft by the next day, and further details will be published on Wednesday, Viktor Szigetvari, co-leader of the E-PM alliance, told a press conference today.

Concerning the opposition’s candidate for Budapest mayor, Szigetvari said that “there is a good chance (incumbent) mayor Istvan Tarlos will be challenged by a worthy opponent”.

Szigetvari said that he saw no chance for further changes to the draft agreement and insisted that the parties “will have to say yes or no”. He added that he was ready to give a “proud and prepared yes” to the question. He said he was confident “corrupt mayors delegated by (ruling) Fidesz to many districts” will be “cleared away” by left-liberal candidates of the opposition.

Csaba Molnar, the deputy head of the Democratic Coalition, said the draft also contained an agreement on the compensation lists of districts, as well as a proposed distribution of constituencies. He added that he expected his party’s board to grant approval to the agreement.

Socialist politician Csaba Horvath said on Sunday that besides having to select a joint candidate for the mayor of Budapest, the left-of-centre opposition parties have yet decide on candidates for nine of the capital’s 15 districts, where they are planning to run joint candidates.

The leader of the Socialist group in the municipal assembly told MTI that agreements between the Socialists, E-PM and the Democratic Coalition (DK) were close to being finalised with regard to six districts, while differences of standpoint on the other nine were almost unbridgeable or in some cases less onerous.

Unless these outstanding issues are resolved it will be impossible to come to a common standpoint on the question of a joint candidate for the mayor of Budapest, he said.

Horvath, who heads the Socialist Party’s negotiating team, added that it was expected that a public opinion survey on the question who should be selected as candidate for the city’s mayor would be ready by the middle of next week. He said all parties involved should stand behind the candidate with the highest chance of dislodging the incumbent, Istvan Tarlos, who is backed by the ruling Fidesz party.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters