3 October 2011
The Hungarian Socialist Party is dying. The election defeat of 2010 – the political equivalent of a massive heart attack – consigned the party to the political wilderness. However, events since then have reinforced the image of a party slowly choking to death on its internal in-fighting and the political machinations of former Prime Minister, Ferenc Gyurcsány.
Today, you would be hard pressed to know what the Hungarian Socialist Party stands for in terms of its political vision and creed. Simply being the largest opposition party has no merit unless you are seen as having a credible alternative and so far this alternative has failed to emerge. Admittedly, they haven’t been helped by the global economic crisis, which in fact has seen the retreat of many socialist parties in Europe and which has allowed the conservative government in Hungary to be portrayed as ‘punishing’ the banks amongst other things, with special taxation or hitting mortgage lenders with conditions which undermine the value of their foreign-currency investments. In public perception terms, it seems positively ‘kafkaesque’ to see the Socialists supporting big business against the ‘little man’, especially when you need the little man’s vote. This is simply dysfunctional politics.
Another problem for the Socialists is their failure to regenerate their core voter base. It’ not too far from the truth to suggest that the Socialists are the ‘Pensioners’ Party’ but this is a weapon of doubtful durability. As the elderly become more physically infirm, the less active they are politically. Furthermore, being on fixed incomes, they are by necessity easily bought off – whoever offers them more can usually attract their allegiance. This is not encouraging for the Socialist Party.
Then of course there is the problem of what to do with former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány. However you look at it, the former Prime Minister seems to be a political liability. His attempts to ‘modernise’ the party have met with stiff resistance not least because many of his political opponents within the Socialist Party distrust him. Actually Gyurcsány’s vision for a new form of Socialist Party is not unreasonable but remains trapped in the political verbiage of Hungarian politics.
More worrying perhaps is the politician’s fate at the hands of the Hungarian legal system. Gyurcsány is facing criminal charges on a number of counts but all of them are, he insists, politically motivated. That line might play well with the foreign media but is met with derisory indifference or scorn in Hungary, where most Hungarians have him guilty as charged. In fact, if I were Gyurcsány, I would be concerned by the lack of international media support – even Ágnes Heller received more credible international backing.
The longer Gyurcsány remains in the political spotlight, the more difficult it will be for the Party to disassociate themselves from his legacy. Worse, should he be found guilty, the Socialists will be buried with him politically.
Where can the Socialists go from here? Quite literally, the party should dissolve and a new social democratic party formed in its place. The current leader, Attila Mesterházy is young enough to begin the building process and seek to attract a younger political base which is free from the associations of the past. However, the priority for the party must be to determine what exactly is the authentic Hungarian social democratic message of today?