Budapest, May 3 (MTI) – Ferenc Gyurcsány, the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) leader, is high on rhetoric when it comes to forging cooperation but shy in practice, the Socialists said on Wednesday in response to a speech by Gyurcsany calling on the “democratic opposition” to reach a deal by year-end on running joint candidates in all constituencies in the 2018 general election.
The Socialists planned to run a joint candidate in elections in the Józsefváros district of Budapest but it was DK’s national board that cancelled the relevant agreement, the statement said.
The Socialists recently proposed running a joint candidate for the by-election in Debrecen at the expense of their own candidate, but DK “rejected this outright” without explaining why, it added.
The Socialists said they would “maintain a willingness for talks until the last minute” in order to secure a joint opposition candidate to run against ruling Fidesz’s candidate in Debrecen.