Budapest mayor: Opposition should stay focused on future

Hungary’s opposition parties can only be successful in the next general election if they stay focused on the future, rather than “trying to return to the pre-2010 world”, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony said on Sunday.

“The opposition shouldn’t be competing in who hates [Prime Minister] Viktor Orbán more or how many likes they get when they lure away another party’s politician,” Karácsony, the co-leader of liberal Párbeszéd told an event focused on green policy.

The opposition would attract more votes if it were capable of presenting a worldview of its own, the mayor said, adding, at the same time, that voters today were only capable of retaining the government’s messaging.

“They can barely say anything about the kind of world the opposition would strive to create if it came into power,” he said.

• The Economist discusses the plight of Hungary’s opposition
• Former PM Gyurcsány: Opposition will win if it joins together

Karácsony said this meant that the opposition had to be responsible when shaping and implementing policy measures. Since there are three million Hungarians living in municipalities governed by the opposition, he said, the parties had an opportunity to enact policies but were also faced with the possibility of failure.