Tamás Sulyok gave a speech at the 199th General Assembly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) in Budapest on Monday, celebrating the 200th anniversary of its founding.Continue reading
Ferenc Gyurcsány, president of the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) and leader of its parliamentary group, is resigning from his position as DK president, stepping down as parliamentary group leader and giving up his seat in parliament. He is retiring from public life and will not participate in the elections, Klára Dobrev, party MEP from the opposition party, announced on Thursday.
The politician wrote on her Facebook page that her husband, Ferenc Gyurcsány, wants to put an end to the “Hungarian right wing’s attempts to escape all its sins by lying about Gyurcsány, to cover up all its problems by lying about Gyurcsány, and to destroy people, programs, and policies by lying about Gyurcsány.” Gyurcsány-bashing is allegedly a product of the moral, human, and intellectual decline of right-wing politics and a prime example of character assassination. This is now over, Klára Dobrev said.
The MEP also announced that the presidency had taken note of the politician’s decision and that a new president would be elected. She emphasized that
Ferenc Gyurcsány will always enjoy the friendship, love, and respect of the entire DK community.
Klára Dobrev wrote that difficult times call for difficult decisions. In her words, today “we are living in difficult times,” not only we Hungarians, but the whole world is in turmoil and changing.
Dobrev pointed out that DK is the only Hungarian party whose president is elected by the entire membership, and that the presidential election will be held within weeks. She also announced that she will run for the position and that, in the interim, acting vice president Csaba Molnár will lead the party.
At the end of her post, Dobrev also announced that she and Ferenc Gyurcsány were separating as husband and wife. Neither of them will speak publicly about the divorce, and they ask everyone to respect their privacy.
The reason behind Gyurcsány’s decision is unlikely to be any “character assassination,” as Dobrev suggested. In fact, the former socialist PM’s name is surfacing in Hungarian politics less and less. The true reason behind his decision to retire will most likely be the fact that the new opposition Tisza Party has absorbed most of their electorate and DK is now teetering on the edge of the parliamentary threshold of 5%. The party is unlikely to experience any tangible uptick should Dobrev be elected as its new leader, as she is considered to be a deeply unpopular politician even among left-wing voters.
Via MTI; Featured photo: MTI/Hegedüs Róbert