At the end of May I wrote an article about the sorry state of LMP which, after the election, was showing signs of disintegration. In that post I briefly summarized LMP’s history between 2009 and 2018, noting its internal dissension and, as a result, changes in its leadership. LMP always identified itself as a liberal, left-of-center party with roots in Hungary’s conservative heritage, but with the recent personnel changes the conservative strains have come to the fore. The new co-chair, László Lóránt Keresztes, believes that “the left-of-center opposition, including LMP, committed a historic mistake when it didn’t take a clear position on the migration crisis and handed the issue to Viktor Orbán.” As far as he is concerned, LMP, as a 21st-century party, should cooperate only with the two other 21st-century parties–Jobbik, established in 2003, and Momentum, formed in 2017. These three parties together will be the ones that will defeat Viktor Orbán’s regime, claims the new co-chairman.
In the last two days LMP’s reputation has taken more hits, from which it may not recover. But just before the news of the latest scandals broke, Tamás Bauer, an economist and a sharp-eyed political commentator, wrote a perceptive opinion piece in HVG with the title “21st-century parties.” Bauer’s conclusion is that cooperation between the left-of-center parties MSZP, Párbeszéd, and DK, on the one hand, and Jobbik and LMP, on the other, is impossible given their divergent political views. Jobbik and LMP share “Fidesz’s nationalism, protectionism, and inhumane refugee policies.” Bauer offers several examples to show that the leadership of LMP truly regrets that they didn’t follow Orbán’s policies, which turned out to be foolproof. As Péter Ungár, LMP’s new star, argues, Orbán’s image is that of “the leader of the local folks against the global elite.” His strategy is built “on the myth of the oppressed freedom fighters against an international conspiracy,” while the opposition parties with their constant references to Europe “ended up as the local defenders of the global elite.” Ungár, just like the Fidesz propagandists, sees the conflict between western democracies and the Orbán government primarily as attempts by the global elite to spread its economic influence instead of a genuine concern over Viktor Orbán’s autocratic illiberalism. All in all, in weighty political questions, Fidesz, Jobbik, and LMP belong to the same camp, concludes Bauer.
The main argument against this branding is LMP’s persistent criticism of the government’s undemocratic practices. After all, LMP shares the left-of-center parties’ devotion to democracy. Jobbik also joins in this chorus. Can it be the foundation for common action? In Bauer’s opinion, the answer to that question is “no.” As Bernadett Szél said during the election campaign, there is only a “commonality of fate” and not a “commonality of values” when it comes to LMP’s relationship to the other opposition parties. In other words, what for the time being holds them together is being in opposition, and practically nothing else. In Bauer’s opinion, for MSZP and DK to seek closer cooperation with LMP and Jobbik is a hopeless proposition because of the fundamental differences in political views, which are responses to the essential question in Hungarian history for more than a century. Where to belong? To the democratic west or the autocratic east?
To illustrate Bauer’s point, here is the latest such failed attempt at cooperation. A few days ago Ferenc Gyurcsány approached the parliamentary delegations of all opposition parties, suggesting joint action against the outrageous law on the freedom of assembly. A perfectly reasonable proposition. MSZP and Párbeszéd gladly agreed while both LMP and Jobbik refused because of Gyurcsány’s alleged criminal behavior during the 2006 disturbances, which is of course nothing but an excuse.
As I said earlier, LMP lost many of its voters after the election because they blamed the party for Fidesz’s two-thirds majority, which could have been avoided if in certain Budapest districts LMP had withdrawn from the race. That was bad enough, but what has come afterward has been a really ugly story. In addition to the attrition—almost every day one hears about a new departure from the party, Magyar Narancs learned lately, which had long been rumored, that Fidesz and LMP are much closer than most people ever suspected. Even during the campaign Erzsébet Schmuck, LMP’s campaign manager, apparently had lengthy telephone conversations with Mária Schmidt, Viktor Orbán’s chief ideologist, who is also, let us not forget, Péter Ungár’s mother. But Schmuck wasn’t the only LMP bigwig who consulted with Schmidt during the campaign. Bernadett Szél more or less admitted that much last night on ATV’s Egyenes beszéd. One of Magyar Narancs’s sources claimed that “Mária Schmidt had been very active in the party,” which high-level Fidesz politicians were perfectly well aware of.
Róbert Benedek Sallai, who knocked over Ákos Hadházy at one of the meetings of LMP’s leadership, is also suspected of being a Fidesz mole. In late 2017 Sallai was in favor of what he called “silent cooperation,” which meant not campaigning in districts where another opposition party was strong. Yet by the time the campaign rolled around, he was the most ferocious opponent of any kind of cooperation. Apparently, his change of heart came after his foundation received a €240,000 EU grant thanks to the government’s generosity. All in all, as things look right now, LMP’s reputation is ruined.
Bernadett Szél, Péter Ungár, and Erzsébet Schmuck at the videoed meeting
If that weren’t enough, there is a separate issue, which is as ugly as the others in addition to being against the law. LMP hired a well-known Israeli campaign guru, Ron Werber, who in the past had worked for MSZP. Eventually, there was a falling out between the party and Werber. Werber claimed that LMP owed him 10 million forints. It was Péter Ungár who signed Werber’s contract on December 12, 2017, but it was only in January 2018 that Ungár got the green light to go ahead with the deal. On the video one can see Schmuck, Ungár, and Szél, with Ungár explaining that “I decided to sign that contract though I had no authority to do so, so that in the future this contract wouldn’t be binding as far as we are concerned. This fact might come in very handy in a law suit.” Szél obviously found Ungár’s ruse quite clever because she received the news with a big smile.
Szél’s performance last night on ATV’s Egyenes beszéd was a disturbing experience. She was not only confused but one could sense her moral collapse as well. She got her party into a situation from which, I’m afraid, there is no obvious way out.