Local elections – Falus to step down as mayoral candidate in Budapest

Budapest, September 29 (MTI) – Budapest mayoral candidate Ferenc Falus announced today that he is stepping down as a candidate.

Originally put forward by the opposition E-PM party alliance, Falus was supported by the opposition Socialists and the leftist opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) as well. He made the announcement at a press conference where Lajos Bokros, the candidate of the conservative Movement for a Modern Hungary (MoMa), was also present.

Viktor Szigetvari, co-leader of the E-PM alliance and Ferenc Gyurcsany, leader of the DK, asked their voters to support Bokros in the campaign.

Bokros said at the press conference that on October 12 the choice was “between democracy and dictatorship”. He also called Istvan Tarlos, the incumbent mayor of the ruling Fidesz party, for a TV debate.

Press reports over the past few days have suggested that Falus would withdraw from the race and back Bokros, an economist, former finance minister and now the leader of MoMa. Zsolt Greczy, spokesman for DK, told commercial ATV today morning that the party would decide at a meeting later in the day whether to back Bokros as a candidate. He said DK agreed with Bokros’s main goals, such as democracy, a market economy and expanding freedoms.

The opposition Dialogue for Hungary (PM) party, which is a member of the E-PM alliance, told MTI after Falus’s announcement that it would not support Bokros.