Gyurcsány wants renewed left

The country needs a new, democratic, civic left wing that has a national vision but its ability to govern must be formed, former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, the leader of the leftist opposition Democratic Coalition, has said on the fourth anniversary of his party’s founding. Hungarians who voted for the right wing voted for predictability and a party with the ability to govern, that is why the left wing must regain these characteristics, he said. “In this divided democratic world” the ones who had the most responsibility were the political forces with the most voters. Gyurcsány said the left has a historic responsibility to make sure there is a “democratic alternative” to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The real dividing line since spring 2010 – when Fidesz trounced the left wing in the general election – had not been between right and left but between those who followed European civic and democratic norms as opposed to those who would choose “oriental despotism”. Those who identified as democrats should join together. “Whoever is a democrat belongs to us”, independently of which party colours they wrap themselves in, Gyurcsány said. Democrats should first concede that the reason for failure was “ourselves”, and whoever failed to understand this would never be capable of leading a new Hungary or creating a more livable country.