Hungarian Opposition Tries to Regroup as Orban Warns of Villains

(Bloomberg) -- Hungarian opposition parties made last-ditch attempts to seek an election alliance against Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The premier in turn used a campaign rally to accuse his opponents of being foot soldiers of a clandestine “empire” run by financier George Soros.

Orban, who is enjoying a strong poll lead ahead of the April 8 vote, is seeking to mobilize his supporters to avoid a repeat of the shock defeat he suffered in 2002. Since regaining power eight years ago, he’s built a self-styled illiberal state modeled on Russia and has relentlessly focused on the threat of immigration that he says is being promoted by the Hungarian-born billionaire.

"Let’s not fool ourselves: The real foes we need to fight aren’t anemic little opposition parties, but an international network organized into an empire,” Orban told a rally of tens of thousands of people in front of parliament in Budapest to mark a national holiday.

This campaign has been tough for the 54-year-old, whose party has been dogged by corruption allegations, which he denies. Last month, it lost a stronghold it had controlled for 20 years as a divided opposition backed a joint candidate in a by-election. Still, the disparate opposition of parties ranging from a former far-right group to liberals has failed to bridge differences and create a joint platform on the national level.

Opposition Talks

The prime ministerial candidates of the opposition Socialists, the Democratic Coalition, known as DK, and Politics Can Be Different, or LMP, used their speeches on Thursday to urge steps to build an alliance against Orban. They tried to divert attention from the government’s election themes by highlighting the woes of Hungary’s healthcare and education systems and criticizing Orban’s strong-arm tactics. Some opposition forces are planning to hold further talks on Sunday on potential cooperation.

Still, any broad agreement between opposition forces will be difficult. While the DK party agreed to withdraw its representative in one consituency to aid the LMP party’s top candidate, the largest opposition force, Jobbik, rejected talks on a tie-up.

In his speech, Orban portrayed his opponents as pawns controlled by Soros-led forces that are infiltrating Hungary’s election process with the help of multinational companies and “international speculators.” Soros has repeatedly denied Orban’s allegations, in turn accusing the premier of running a “mafia state” and suppressing independent voices.

Orban’s backers had sought to gather as many as 200,000 people in the capital for the march to parliament which culminated in Orban’s address. Opposition parties are also holding separate rallies elsewhere in the city on the day commemorating Hungary’s 1848 revolution.

Fidesz’s re-election would prolong a rift with the European Union, a clash which has inspired countries including Poland to bridle against the bloc’s democratic norms. Orban has drawn criticism from Brussels by stacking independent courts and other institutions with allies, extending his influence over much of the media and opening the way to the enrichment of a new class of oligarchs with connections to the ruling party.

--With assistance from Zoltan Simon

To contact the reporter on this story: Andras Gergely in Budapest at agergely@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net, Michael Winfrey, Andrea Dudik

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.