Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BUDAPEST389
2007-03-13 09:47:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Budapest
Cable title:  

THE QUEST FOR THE CENTER: THE MDF SETS ITS SIGHTS

Tags:  PGOV KDEM ECON HU 
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VZCZCXRO3510
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHUP #0389 0720947
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 130947Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0928
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L BUDAPEST 000389 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO NSC FOR ADAM STERLING

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2012
TAGS: PGOV KDEM ECON HU
SUBJECT: THE QUEST FOR THE CENTER: THE MDF SETS ITS SIGHTS
ON CONTROLLING THE NEXT COALITION


Classified By: P/E COUNSELOR ERIC V. GAUDIOSI; REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUDAPEST 000389

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO NSC FOR ADAM STERLING

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2012
TAGS: PGOV KDEM ECON HU
SUBJECT: THE QUEST FOR THE CENTER: THE MDF SETS ITS SIGHTS
ON CONTROLLING THE NEXT COALITION


Classified By: P/E COUNSELOR ERIC V. GAUDIOSI; REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (C) The opposition Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF)
reelected party leader Dr. Ibolya David in a well-organized
event March 11. Receiving over 80% of the vote for her fifth
term - but not the three-year mandate she had reportedly
sought - David set the party's goal as 10% of the vote in the
next elections so that "no government can be formed without
us." In a strong speech, David criticized both the Gyurcsany
government's record of "incompetence" and the "mirage of
populism" put forth by FIDESZ leader Viktor Orban, outlining
a platform based on combatting corruption, protecting the
middle class, and ensuring fiscal responsibility. She will
arrive in the U.S. on a trip later this month with a unified
party, widespread personal popularity, and a degree of
momentum as she stakes out the middle ground in the Hungarian
body politic.

GOVERNANCE AS THE GOAL


2. (C) Dr. David's acceptance speech for her fifth term as
party leader highlighted the MDF's party congress March 11.
Following an address by Bela Marko, leader of Romania's
ethnic Hungarian RMDS party, David set the party's goal as
the ability to ensure control over any future coalition
government. Citing recent polling showing support for the
party approaching 10% - twice its share of the vote in the
2006 elections - David described the party as Hungary's
"active alternative." She urged the party to use the years
before the 2010 elections to demonstrate its "fitness to
govern."

BOTH PARTIES AS THE OBSTACLE


3. (C) Starkly warning that Hungary could "move into Europe
or move toward the Balkans," David called for responsibility,
consistency, and credibility to "rise above the lowest common
denominator" and to overcome public apathy with the political
class. She blamed both the government's "wasteful
utopianism" and FIDESZ's "cul-de-sac of rejection" for the
current gridlock, stating the MDF's willingness to "be
cooperative" but underscoring its insistence on "remaining
unaligned" in order to follow its principles.


4. (C) Consistent with its slogan, "the Middle Class'
Party," Dr. David accused both the government and the
opposition of engaging in "financial sorcery" and ultimately
abandoning the average Hungarian. She called for immediate
steps including a broader but simpler tax system to restore
Hungary's "international credibility." She pressed hard for
investment in education and renewable energy, and called for
the formation of a special office to investigate public
sector corruption, particularly in party financing.

AIMING HIGH


5. (C) Comment: The MDF is riding high and aiming even
higher. Recent polls show a conservative trend among younger
Hungarians, and the party feels confident that it can
translate its popularity into electoral advances in 2010.
Substantively, the MDF is identifying the key issues;
stylistically, Dr. David remains among the most popular
national political figures. That said, the party's bench is
extremely thin, and its national structure is still
recovering from widespread defections to FIDESZ in a furious
scramble during the 2006 national elections. Moreover, the
system she is criticizing offers enormous advantages to the
largest parties, and she is betting that frustration with
both Gyurcsany and Orban will lead voters toward the middle
rather than the extremes. She will arrive in the U.S. in
April for meetings with USG officials and ethnic Hungarian
groups, and we believe she is well worth meeting. End
Comment.

FOLEY