Ferenc Gyurcsany, a former Socialist prime minister, has said he is mulling forming a new party, and his decision will hinge on whether the main opposition shows any willingness to overhaul itself.
Gyurcsany, who belongs to the Socialist parliamentary group and operates his own platform, told reporters on Friday that he would decide in the second half of 2012 on whether to leave the party, which he used to lead, and form a new movement.
Socialist board member Tibor Szanyi said on Saturday that if Gyurcsany were to leave the party, it would not shake the Socialists.
Szanyi, reacting to the Bloomberg report of a news briefing with foreign journalists given by Gyurcsany, said the Socialists rejected the former prime minister’s “ultimatum”, though he said the party was open to all “constructive proposals”.
Socialist chairman Attila Mesterhazy said on Saturday that he had only heard about Gyurcsany’s plans to set up a new party from the press.
“I have an opinion, but there are more important issues in Hungary at the moment than to start a debate about this,” Mesterhazy said. He added that he regularly meets Gyurcsany and he would not send him messages through the press.
Gyurcsany has recently proposed that the Socialists should hold a vote on whether party officials should be elected directly and whether party leaders should be obliged to declare their income and assets. According to Saturday’s daily Nepszabadsag, none of the party’s platforms, other than his own, support the initiative.
