Opinion in Die Presse: Jobbik’s transition into people party is genuine

Austria’s daily Die Presse published a guest commentary article on Jobbik’s transition into a people’s party. Sociologist István Teplán, founder and former vice rector of Central European University (CEU) wrote that Jobbik had genuinely embraced people’s party values and intended to become a non-discriminative movement, without which no government change was possible in Hungary.

According to Mr Teplán, Fidesz, an organization still young and democratic in name, is no longer young and certainly not democratic in reality. Hungary’s governing party did not even release an election manifesto; they base their campaign on inciting sentiments against migrants, Brussels and their own former supporter George Soros. Talking about the fragmented traditional leftist opposition, he said they were constantly losing popularity and were not likely to undergo a revitalization until a new generation takes over, which is quite improbable in the near future.

Mr Teplán also acted as the moderator of an international conference on the wage union concept, held in the European Parliament in Brussels on November 27.

Talking about the most promising candidates for Prime Minister in Hungary, Mr Teplán listed the “charismatic” Bernadett Szél, LMP’s co-president and Jobbik’s president Gábor Vona who had conducted a renewal of his party.

“After getting rid of its extremism (and extremists), Jobbik has become an increasingly realistic choice for active protest voters who want a change in government,” he wrote. He added that conservative, pro-left and liberal political analysts had all begun to realize that Jobbik, considering its much higher ratings than LMP, could potentially achieve a breakthrough in the upcoming elections. The sociologist also noted that the Hungarian government cannot be replaced without Jobbik.
“Which is the bigger threat: to solidify a Peronist Orbán regime under the wing of Putin’s Russia, or to see a people’s party Jobbik as a member of a government coalition?” he asked.

As Mr Teplán put it, Jobbik had genuinely embraced people’s party values and announced its intention to become a non-discriminative group, by following the motto of “seeking what binds us together rather than what separates us.”