28 March 2012
Having failed to unseat Viktor Orbán by the ballot box, popular protest and EU pressure, the liberal left in Hungary is desperately seeking a ‘silver bullet’. Some at least think they might have found it in the shape of former technocrat Prime Minister, Gordon Bajnai.
In some circles, Bajnai’s name is mentioned as a well-placed, politically neutral leader who would appeal to the Brussels ‘technocratocracy’ and possibly some European political leaders. He is a friend of the banks and diligently carried out IMF cuts when last in office. He says all the right thinks when addressing the media. Bajna himself, egged on by supporters, even seems to believe that he is the right man in the right place at the right time. He bides his time.
However, when one looks dispassionately at this perspective, there is arguably another narrative – one that sees Bajnai as a manufactured candidate, a man too closely associated with the monumental failures of the past and someone with no discernible political creed to mention. Furthermore, he is a man who has never run for political office and frequently tainted with failure.
As a businessman, Bajnai Gordon was a failure. His murky involvement in the ‘Hajdú-Bét’ scandal remains open for further investigation and Fidesz on current form might just start digging. His incompetence ruined the lives of many poor people. As Minister in the Gyurcsány government, he presided over Hungary’s financial ruin. Yet despite this, Bajnai was only too keen to act as a technical prime minister after the resignation of Gyurcsány – were he executed nothing but the instructions of the IMF. It is hardly a political accolade to be known as the man who made the cuts imposed by others. Why, the question must be asked, was he so reticent to recommend public spending cuts when he was a Government Minister. Have we missed something?
The truth is that Gordon Bajnai is a political lightweight and even the use of political here is questionable. He has no politics other than the politics of many European technocrats – access to power and influence and to be seen in the ‘circle of trust’. His proximity to the liberals and Gyurcsány’s new faction is a death wish in the new political reality of Hungary. No amount of smooth talking from American advisors can make him electable without a political credibility which he so obviously lacks. Being a friend of the EU and the IMF is not necessarily an advantage in today’s Hungary.
Should the Hungarian Socialists, LMP and any other minority group seek to coalesce politically around Bajnai, they have to expect a withering onslaught from Fidesz, both in terms of his public and private qualifications and his business links. I am not sure that Bajnai Gordon would welcome such transparency!