Hungary’s green party, LMP is a young party facing weighty choices. Its policy of maintaining equal distance to MSZP and Fidesz appears untenable as pressure mounts to join a left-wing alliance to oust the Orbán government in 2014. LMP is under pressure from a variety of source. For one, with the emergence of numerous new parties it is losing its position as the only left-wing MSZP challenger. Second, the emergence of former PM Gordon Bajnai fills large parts of the left – including many LMP supporters – with hope that the left has a viable candidate to challenge Viktor Orbán. For LMP this poses a serious dilemma, as both routes, being the spoiler of a potentially successful left-wing alliance, as well as losing its independence by joining it harbours great risks.
The entire analysis can only be reached for our subscribers.
Policy Solutions is a progressive political research institute based in Budapest. It was founded in 2008 and it is committed to the values of liberal democracy, solidarity, equal opportunity, sustainability and European integration. The focus of Policy Solutions’ work is on understanding political processes in Hungary and the European Union. Among the pre-eminent areas of our research are the investigation of how the quality of democracy evolves, the analysis of factors driving euroscepticism, populism and the far-right, and election research.
Follow us on Facebook!
