Leftist PM candidate Karácsony urges creation of ‘homeland based on cooperation’

The prime minister candidate of the opposition Socialist and Párbeszéd parties, Gergely Karácsony, has said he wants to steer Hungary away from “the politics of hatred and division” towards a western, just and knowledge-based society. 

Speaking on the fifth anniversary of the party which he co-leads, Karácsony said he would distance Hungary from the “Fidesz nightmare” and build the country’s future on the basis of cooperation.

Referring to the Socialist Party’s decision to cooperate with Párbeszéd in the election campaign, the current mayor of the Zugló district of Budapest said the Socialists had taken a “massive step” by accepting the smaller party into its fold rather than making the decision “a matter of prestige”.

Karácsony, for his part, will have his name on the Socialist Party’s national list in return for running as their PM candidate.

He said a party of the left-wing social democrats and a left-wing green party were not under any illusions that they are capable of representing a unified nation. But they believe in cooperation, and this is something they wish to further broaden: their doors were open to anyone who wants change, he added.