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As a reminder:
- László Kovács is a founding member of the Hungarian Socialist Party,
- he was a member of Parliament for eighteen years.
- Between 1998 and 2004 he was president of the MSZP.
- Horn Minister for Foreign Affairs, Medgyessy and (for a short time) Gyurcsány government,
- then the European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union.
- In 2010, he returned to domestic politics for another term as a member of parliament and vice president of the party.
- In 2014, however, he did not run for any political office again.
- He is 81 years old, married, has an adult daughter and a nine-year-old son.
The MSZP has been a leading ruling party three times and is now moving around the parliamentary threshold. What do you think it has taken so far?
I see the main reason for the dramatic decline in the fact that when Attila Mesterházy became party chairman, citing the importance of rejuvenation, a significant number of experienced and successful politicians from previous years were replaced by ambitious but inexperienced young men who were not capable of prior intellectual and political performance. .
As a key player in better times, how do you personally experience all of this?
Of course, I am disappointed by the poor performance and its legitimate criticisms.
Sometimes they ask, do you ask for your opinion?
Rarely, but sometimes they ask for opinions and advice. But I don’t feel a great openness, receptivity, so after that, my criticism doesn’t have a serious impact either.
Do you think the MSZP has been quite left-wing in the last decade?
In my opinion, in the last decade, the left nature of the MSZP has been largely in line with the party’s values and the possibilities of party politics. However, the realities should not be ignored.
However, most of the workers do not seem to feel the political offer of the MSZP. How is it possible?
Unfortunately I don’t know the explanation for this, but I will try to understand it!
Last week’s shakeup was noisy with scandals. Dissolution of a basic organization, demonstrations by party members against their own party colleagues, rhetoric among presidential candidates. Is the MSZP small-scale?
The scandals, demonstrations and rhetoric among the presidential candidates about the renewal of the position were mostly related to the aspirations and excessive ambitions of some self-candidates. Some demonstrations closely resembled the Small Producers’ Party scandals.
For small farmers, we all remember the end of the story. Do you sometimes feel like we are witnessing the end of the MSZP these days?
Even if there are certain similarities,
In my opinion, the recent statements of the MSZP Congress cannot be compared with the struggle of small farmers.
According to Attila Mesterházy, the current renewal was “unfair and undemocratic”, which is why he finally resigned as president of his party.
Attila Mesterházy could only imagine himself as the president of the party. A reorganization that would not place him in the presidency was clearly seen as unfair and undemocratic. He affirms that that is why he decided to withdraw from the candidacy.
Mesterházy said it would be more interesting if the MSZP is at 1% next time. What do you expect in the coming months?
I hope that the support of the Socialist Party does not weaken, but strengthens.
But what would make it stronger if the leadership – that is, the personal quality mentioned at the beginning of the conversation – remained essentially unchanged as a result of the Saturday renewal?
There is no doubt that former leaders have been re-elected in the current Congress, but new ones have also been elected. In my experience, adding new people to management tends to have a positive effect on former managers as well. The choice of Zita Gurmai as vice president, her strong personality, for example, can generate a greater change than three other exchanges.
How important is the MSZP as a party in a construction of opposition in which all critical actors for the government must form a de facto electoral party to have a chance to win?
I think it is clear that in the current political situation, a candidate from the common opposition has a better chance of winning than a candidate who can only count on the support of a single trend.
Would you even consider the creation of a completely new opposition group conceivable or desirable? That might be the most logical way to merge opposition tendencies, right?
I agree, it seems to me that this is the most effective in the current situation.
What kind of character could a common opposition prime minister envision, perhaps having a specific favorite?
Previously, he was confident that given his experience and attractive personality, Gordon Bajnai would receive support at the national level. Even now, I think that a person with a similar personality and ability to him would be the most likely to win.
Are you now aiming for Gordon Bajnai to be the right person for the job in 2022? Is this still a reality? Or do you just write around an ideal type? Recently, the names of Klára Dobrev or Gergely Karácsony are mentioned in this context …
I have written an ideal type, which, however, I believe will remain a reality.
(Cover image: László Kovács in 2014. Photo: János Bődey / Index)
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