The ruling Socialist Party (MSZP) will devise a programme for the years to follow economic recovery and calls for correcting the prevailing models rather than changing the system, party leader Ildiko Lendvai told reporters in Budapest on Wednesday, outlining her party’s campaign strategy for the 2010 general elections.
The embattled Socialists, struggling to close a wide gap in the polls under their third prime minister since 2002, have now laid a groundwork for “model correction” in four areas.
First of all, they prefer to see a stronger state operating under democratic control, one that plays a bigger role in developing the economy and creating new jobs, said Lendvai.
The Socialists see a need for corrections in the economy. As the process of privatisation has come to an end, changes in the ownership structure will no longer be a driving force of economic growth, she said.
MSZP seeks to give a fresh impetus to social mobility that has come to a standstill over the past few years. The strategy also stresses the importance of Roma integration and combating child poverty, she said.
The Socialists also call for giving new legal guarantees to consumers in banking, food retail and corporate competitiveness. Strengthening public and legal security is another must, she said.
MSZP wants to become a party of low and medium-income people, said the party leader.
Responding to attacks from the right, Lendvai called the Socialists an inherent part of the nation, a party that takes a resolute stand for the political, economic and cultural values of the Hungarian nation.
The socialists ” a party that takes a resolute stand for the political, economic and cultural values of the Hungarian nation”
Now, finally I have a party that I can throw my hat behind. This party, the party for the people, how could I have been so blind for so long?