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Green-centrist LMP politician Bernadett Bakos will receive the mandate of Democratic Coalition’s Klára Dobrev, after the leftist opposition party’s MEP chose to keep her seat in the European Parliament. The deal has led to skirmishes within the opposition, as according to a leftist-green Párbeszéd politician, LMP has become DK’s green-chapter and denied news that the two green sides which were once together in one party would engage in a deeper coalition.
True to her hint made before the elections, DK MEP Klára Dobrev (the wife of party leader Ferenc Gyurcsány) will keep her mandate in the European Parliament, thereby renouncing her position in the Hungarian Parliament.
On Wednesday, it was revealed that Dobrev’s seat would go to LMP. At the moment, Bernadett Bakos is the party’s representative in the self-government of Kőbánya (Budapest’s 10th district).
Since the opposition alliance underperformed at the elections, LMP would only be able to delegate four lawmakers in the next cycle, one less than needed for setting up a parliamentary group (which involves a lot of additional advantages). It was known before the elections that LMP made a pact with DK within the opposition alliance, with the left-wing party reportedly having promised that it would help the greens out in this case.
Along with the pact, the fact that Gyurcsány’s party has given a hand to LMP is particularly interesting since in 2009, LMP (Lehet Más A Politika, which means ‘Politics Can Be Different’) was established in order to offer a third option for those who had had enough of Orbán’s Fidesz and Gyurcsány’s left side. LMP founder and former leader András Schiffer (who exited the party in 2016) is still a loud critic of Gyurcsány’s.
These current events have certainly led to commotion. According to leftist green Párbeszéd (which was established after a split within LMP due to disagreements over the planned electoral alliance of opposition parties and movements led by former leftist-liberal PM Gordon Bajnai) member Bence Tordai, a closer cooperation between the two parties is not an option (previously it was speculated that the two sides would re-unite), because LMP “formed a very close alliance with DK led by Ferenc Gyurcsány.” He also said that he wasn’t considering a merger because some brought LMP in as”DK’s Green chapter.” Ungár hit back by ironically saying that Párbeszéd would finally run solo at an election [meaning the EP election] ten years after its establishment. But he also said that this wasn’t the time for the two green parties to engage in a quarrel.
In addition, the fate of Péter Márki-Zay’s parliamentary seat is still up in the air. Both Párbeszéd and Jobbik reportedly want it.
featured image: LMP’s Bakos; via Facebook