Hungary’s governing Socialists are determined to find ways to regain voters’ trust in the government, deputy party leader Imre Szekeres said on Thursday.
Szekeres told MTI it was too early to decide who the party’s candidate for Prime Minister for the parliamentary elections of 2010 should be. However, they must be someone who enjoys the strongest support in Hungarian society, he added.
Ferenc Gyurcsany, the embattled prime minister of the minority government, is seen as one of the least liked politicians in Hungary, according to surveys.
Szekeres said the party’s forthcoming congress this Saturday would have to start the process of regaining the support of voters. The congress will also determine a direction for “the modernisation of the Socialist party” and launch a political turnaround before the approaching European Parliamentary elections, he added.
“These can only be successful if we include on the agenda political, organisational and personnel issues,” Szekeres said. “New members may be elected to the party board,” he added.
Szekeres said the government’s past measures to curb economic recession and raise employment had been necessary but not sufficient, he added.
Domestic consumption, investment and exports need to be increased and state spending must be cut, Szekeres said.
He also called for coordinated efforts by the central bank, stating that monetary policy has the space for manoeuvre to stimulate demand. The National Bank of Hungary should appear as a buyer on the secondary market of government securities and offer attractive loans to commercial banks in order to encourage them to credit industrial and agricultural production, Szekeres said.
The Socialists have one year left until the parliamentary elections to convince voters of their merits, Szekeres said. The party is determined to regain the support of those who voted for it in 2006, he added.
People should draw the conclusion that “it has been a difficult period and the Socialists made some mistakes, but on the whole, they governed well,” Szekeres said.
