In Hungary, political opinion has polarised, with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Fidesz party enjoying considerable support as they continue to attack the EU. Erin Marie Saltman writes that only time will tell if Hungary’s divided left opposition will be able to put aside their differences and unite to overpower the radical right

Saltman, Erin Marie

English

LSE Research Online

blo gs.lse.ac.uk http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2012/12/04/hungary-opposition/Cre d it: Jurje n van Ente r (Cre ative  Co mmo ns BY NC SA)Unless the fractured opposition left can unite, the politicalhegemony of the right will continue in Hungary.by Blog AdminIn Hungary, political opinion has polarised, with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Fideszparty enjoying considerable support as they continue to attack the EU. Erin Marie Saltmanwrites that only time will tell if Hungary’s divided left opposition will be able to put aside theirdifferences and unite to overpower the radical right.Those less intimate with Hungarian polit ical culture should be aware of  the signif icanceof  March 15th and October 23rd, national memorial days f or the 1848 and 1956revolutions against Hapsburg and Soviet powers. These national holidays have beenused increasingly to stage polit ical speeches, demonstrations and protests in recent years, parallelingthe rising discourse around Hungary’s ‘illiberal’ turn, as reported on by international news and humanrights watchdogs.As polit ical f orces in Hungary have polarised, so have the streets of  Budapest, divided into an array ofcamps f or and against the government. Since the parliamentary majority victory of  the right wing party,Fidesz, and the signif icant electoral gains of  the radical right party Jobbik, there has been increasing talkof  Hungary’s movement away f rom liberal democratic values and the country’s increasing Euroscepticism.The lack of  cohesion of  liberal- lef t polit ical f orces f or the past six years has turned polit ical polarisationinto polit ical hegemony of  the right.But the events that took place onOctober 23rd may indicate af undamental shif t toward thedevelopment of  a united liberalopposition movement. The nationalholiday was a litmus test f or the f ailingof  old opposition powers, thecontinued strength of  right-wingf orces, and potential new alliances’strengthening unity among grassrootsand polit ical opposition.Left dividedThe state of  Hungary’s liberal- lef tpolit ical f orces has been bleak inrecent years. The main oppositionparty MSZP (The Hungarian SocialistParty) enjoyed electoral victories in the2002 and 2006 elections but support has greatly diminished since scandals in 2006. Lef t wing f orceswere crushed f urther af ter the 2010 elections when MSZP’s ally, liberal party SZDSZ  (Alliance of  FreeDemocrats) f ailed to gain enough support to enter parliament. By October 2011 the f ormer MSZP PrimeMinister, Ferenc Gyurcsány, announced that he would be leaving MSZP with a f action of  its members tocreate a new centre- lef t party, Democratic Coalit ion (DK).The downf all of  MSZP was displayed in f ull by the party’s absence f rom the public events on October23rd. The party opted to have a more private af f air at Budapest’s Flamenco Hotel, where the party’spresident, Attila Mesterházy, along with other of f icials, conducted speeches and mingled. Since the partyhas been crit icized by the right f or being untrustworthy and catering more to European interests than theneeds of  the nation, this elite gathering will not help perceptions.The Green Party, LMP, who has been a unique new addition to the Hungarian parliament since 2010,drawing on Budapest-based youth support, was also surprisingly absent f rom public events. LMP hasbattled to remain polit ically neutral f rom right- lef t divisions, which has hurt the party’s ability to widen itssupport network. LMP’s website stated that they would not be holding an of f icial LMP event, though theyexplicit ly stated that they were not a part of  the alternative opposition demonstrations being held bygrassroots movements Egymillióan and Szolidaritás (‘One Million’ and ‘Solidarity’ – the two main anti-government grassroots movements).A united RightMeanwhile, Fidesz remains an icon of  strength and determination. The party has kept its mainf igureheads mostly intact since 1989, despite shif t ing f rom a liberal youth party to a nationalistconservative party. Viktor Orbán remains the unquestioned leader of  the party, able to rally the massesduring speeches with an audience of  dedicated supporters cheering not only f or the party but f or Orbánhimself . This was evident on October 23rd with a strong turnout of  f ollowers starting with pro-government grassroots groups staging a ‘peace march’ that ended up joining the throngs of  governmentsupporters in f ront of  Parliament. Fidesz continues to propagate anti-EU rhetoric, personif ying the IMFand Brussels as oppressive characters akin to the 1848 and 1956 f orces that Hungary had to riseagainst, yet the party will continue to be seen as moderate right as long as the strong presence ofradical right party, Jobbik, remains.While Fidesz gave speeches in f ront of  parliament to throngs of  dedicated supporters, the radical rightstaged their own demonstrations in the centre of  Budapest bringing in their own hoards of  supporters,largely attended by groups of  younger Hungarians as well as older hard line nationalists.Rounding up the left-over ’sWhat init ially seemed like a dysf unctional competit ion of  six separate demonstrations boiled down toHungary’s original bipolar divide. For the f irst t ime in recent years dif f erent, parts of  a f ractured lef tvocalised the need f or opposition ef f orts to work together. Ex-Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurscány gave thef inal speech at DK’s gathering announcing that he would be supporting Gordon Bajnai in the 2014elections.Bajnai is a widely popular polit ician who led the interim Socialist government bef ore the 2010 elections.He ref rained f rom running in the 2010 elections and has since remained an independent polit ician.Hundreds of  DK f ollowers marched together to join the tens of  thousands of  opposition protesters atElizabeth Bridge, unit ing the grassroots opposition ef f orts of  Egymillióan and Szolidaritás. The twomovement leaders signed a pact with Bajnai called ‘Together 2014’ to rally polit ical and grassrootsopposition f orces together. The cooperation agreement is meant to start bringing opposition ef f ortstogether, though it is still uncertain if  other major polit ical f orces such as the Socialist Party (MSZP) andGreen Party (LMP) will be potential Together 2014 joiners. LMP has continued to maintain that nocooperation with f ormer Socialist members or Bajnai is possible while the Socialist Party has remainedunclear towards the new pact.What remains certain is that a strong civil backing f or right wing and radical right networks cannot beoverpowered by anything less than a f ully united opposition. Time will tell if  opposition organisations andparties will be able to put aside their dif f erences and unite, as the right wing has successf ully done sincethe mid 1990’s, bef ore the 2014 elections.This article was originally published as part of State of the Left – Policy Network’s monthly insight bulletinthat reports from across the world of social democratic politics.Note:  This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of EUROPP – European Politics andPolicy, nor of the London School of Economics.Shortened URL for this post: http://bit .ly/Ubz21C _________________________________About the authorErin Marie Saltman – UCL School of Slavonic and East European StudiesErin Marie Saltman is a graduate researcher at the UCL School of  Slavonic and EastEuropean Studies. Her research f ocuses on the contemporary process of  polit icalsocialization among young people in Hungary.Related posts:1. With the ruling party’s legislative tsunami, Hungary may now be sleepwalking into anauthoritarian state. (11.3)2. Hungary is now a distorted democracy (10.7)3. In Hungary Viktor Orban adds the EU to his lengthening list of  ‘enemies of  the state’ (10.7)

Unless the fractured opposition left can unite, the political hegemony of the right will continue in Hungary

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