Her good performance, however, doesn't mean that she can already claim herself to be Orbán's challenger. Both Karácsony and Márki-Zay have already spoken of a potential withdrawal.Continue reading
Klára Dobrev, Gergely Karácsony, and Péter Márki-Zay have made it to the second round of the primary elections. Now that the first round is behind us, some political maneuvering might happen in the second one, and we will see who may step down for whose benefit, and on what terms.
Who will Momentum and Jobbik support?
András Fekete-Győr of Momentum, and Péter Jakab of Jobbik did not make it to the second round. Now the question is, who will the two parties support? According to Márki-Zay, supporters of Momentum and Jobbik would be most likely to vote for him. “Whether the parties will stand behind me in the second round, I don’t know, but I’m sure that their voters are most likely to support me.”
Fekete-Győr said that “in the second round, Momentum will have to decide with whom we want to see the first term of the new Hungary. Someone who can embrace Momentum’s innovative program. This is not Klára Dobrev.” According to the president of Momentum, the ideal situation would be to have two candidates standing for the second round – that is, the second and third candidates would agree to withdraw in favor of the other. The question is “which candidate can deliver corruption-free governance, changes in the education system, and a new, green, sustainable economic policy.”
Jakab said: “…whoever wins, I will support them wholeheartedly in their fight for a change of government.”
Will someone step down?
As Klára Dobrev received the most votes in the first round, her place is secure in the second. Péter Márki-Zay shared his opinion about Dobrev’s chances. “Gergely Karácsony and I agree that it would be the most difficult for Klára to win this match against Viktor Orbán,” Márki-Zay told Spirit FM. Dobrev is backed by a “committed but narrow support base,” which would not be enough “against Orbán’s three million-strong support base,” Márki-Zay said. “The question is who can bring the rest,” he added.
If we were to have two candidates in the second round of the primaries as Fekete-Győr suggested, it would mean that Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony and mayor of Hódmezővásárhely Péter Márki-Zay would have to decide which one of them is stepping down. There was already discussion about this and Márki-Zay made it clear that he has his terms if he is going to be the one to step down for Karácsony’s benefit. He said that on certain issues he agrees with Dobrev more. These are the introduction of the euro as soon as possible, accountability, and a declaration of the invalidity of the constitution in terms of public law.
If he was to step down, Karácsony has to agree to meet these three conditions. Declaring the constitutional law invalid would mean the dismantling of the two-thirds law without a two-thirds majority, for which Dobrev also advocates, but Karácsony is more cautious on this issue, Telex reports. Márki-Zay believes that only in this case can Péter Polt, the attorney general, the boards of trustees of foundations that have been swollen with public funds, and the media council dismissed. “Without this, there can be no regime change in Hungary,” said the politician, who said that if Karácsony does not stand firmly by these conditions, he cannot expect Márki-Zay to step down in his favor.
Featured image via Péter Márki-Zay’s Facebook page
