Momentum names Budapest mayoral candidate, LMP breaks with Puzsér
Gábor Kerpel-Fronius will enter the race for Budapest mayor and will take part in the pre-election process as well, while Róbert Puzsér has announced he will not take part in the pre-election between opposition candidates, according to reports by news portal Index.hu.
Kerpel-Fronius (right) with Momentum leader András Fekete-Győr (photo: Facebook)
Kerpel-Fronius was a member of Momentumʼs list of candidates for the European parliamentary elections (6th on the list), and is a member of the partyʼs District 13 organization. Momentum Movement President András Fekete-Győr described the candidate as a man arriving from outside the political scene, an experienced business executive, and a father.
"We need an interparty race among the opposition," he said, while noting that Momentum will respect the results of the pre-election as only one candidate must stand against incumbent Budapest Mayor István Tarlós, supported by the governing Fidesz as holder of the office since 2010.
"We need to get rid of the real estate and parking mafia," Kerpel-Fronius said. "For this, we need to take back Budapest." He added that his party has a program for developing Budapest for the next 30 years, while attacking the current administration for only focusing on the management of acute problems.
Puzsér quits pre-election, LMP pulls support
Meanwhile, Róbert Puzsér, an independent media celebrity supported by both the green LMP and right-wing Jobbik, and running for mayor with his plan for a "Walking Budapest," has announced that he is quitting the pre-election process.
"One of my requirements for taking part in the pre-election was that the left-liberal block should share district mayoral nominations in a fair way with the parties supporting me," Puzsér argued. "In Budapest, half of the opposition voters are unwilling to vote for either DK [the Democratic Coalition led by former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány] or the MSZP [the Socialist Party], yet they are nominating the mayoral candidates in 80% of the capitalʼs districts. This is outrageous!"
According to a report by online news portal Mérce, LMP has decided to pull its support for the candidate.
"LMPʼs Executive Presidency rescinds the contract with Róbert Puzsér," the party said. "The requirement of our support was that the candidate should take part in the pre-election... Our explicit aim is to make István Tarlós have one challenger from the opposition this fall."
The report notes that tensions have been running high between Puzsér and the party, after LMP massively underperformed at the European parliamentary elections, failing to reach the minimum threshold for delegating a single MEP.
"What do I have to do with them collapsing?" - Puzsér asked after the results became known.
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