Hungary: home stretch of the opposition primary against the backdrop of "Everything but Orban"
Social Democrat Klara Dobrev is one of the two candidates in the second round of this primary.
Here, September 17, 2021, in Budapest.
ATTILA KISBENEDEK AFP
Text by: Florence La Bruyère Follow
2 min
In Hungary, all the opposition parties have agreed to organize a primary to try to dethrone the nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the legislative elections of 2022. It is a question of choosing a common candidate to occupy the chair of Prime minister, if ever Viktor Orban's party loses the elections.
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From our correspondent in Budapest,
The primary ends Saturday, October 16, and it is of great interest to Hungarians.
More than 630,000 voters voted in the first round.
A participation rate comparable to that of the primaries in the United States.
There were long lines in front of the voting booths in the public squares.
And this week we have already counted 100,000 more voters than in the first round.
► See also: Hungary: the first day of the opposition primary interrupted by a cyberattack
There is a lot of enthusiasm.
This is the first time in a long time that we have seen candidates debate.
These candidates debated not on public television, completely controlled by the government, but on the few independent channels that still exist, such as RTL Klub, the Hungarian subsidiary of the RTL group, which broadcast a debate on Wednesday evening followed by 800,000 spectators. .
We had not seen such an audience since the European Football Championship.
Two candidates in the running
Of the five starting candidates to win the position of challenger against Orban, only two remain in the running.
First, there is
Klara Dobrev
, who led the first round with 34% of the vote.
This brilliant lawyer who speaks five languages is a member of the European Parliament for the party of her husband, the former Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany.
In front of it, we find a candidate that we did not expect: Péter Marki-Zay, a moderate conservative.
A practicing Catholic, father of 7 children, who was a municipal councilor for Fidesz, Viktor Orban's party.
But, revolted by corruption, he left the party and became independent mayor.
The big absentee from this second round of the primary is the environmentalist mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karacsony.
He ultimately withdrew from the race, as the latest polls put him behind conservative Marki-Zay.
Defeat Viktor Orban
“Everything except Orban” is the common thread of the program of these candidates.
Both want to restore the rule of law, sanction corruption.
These two candidates have more in common than differences.
Except that the social democrat Klara Dobrev wants to reduce poverty and inequalities.
Conservative Marki-Zay is more liberal, he is in favor of the
flat tax
, the same income tax rate for everyone.
For voters, the real question is who is most likely to beat Orban and rule.
Even if Klara Dobrev is in the lead, the duel remains open.
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Hungary
Viktor Orban