Steven N.
Zsuzsanna Döme (pictured), deputy mayor of Ferencváros and one of the founders and co-chair of the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party (MKKP), will run as a candidate in Budapest’s District VIII, the politician told Józsefváros News.
MKKP President Gergely Kovács had previously said that the party would only run individual candidates in districts where the outcome of the election was not in question, so as not to decrease the united opposition’s chances in swing districts and possibly prevent them from winning the election.
However, Zsuzsanna Döme told Józsefváros News that a recent membership decision overrode this policy:
They do not pay attention to which districts are swingy and which ones are not, because this is often contradictory, and in any case these are not typically districts in Budapest or Pest County.
Instead, they will gather signatures from their supporters, and if the party has the required 500 recommendations for each of their 71 candidates, then they may consider a tactical “withdrawal” policy. Political scientist Gábor Török recently drew attention to the fact that some electoral districts may be decided by only a few dozen or hundred votes.
For the Budapest-based district that Döme will be competing in, which includes most of Józsefváros and Ferencváros, András Jámbor won the primary election to be the united opposition’s candidate, while Fidesz is nominating the former mayor of the district, Botond Sára.
Jámbor told the local newspaper that ultimately the election will be decided between himself and Botond Sára, expressing confidence that “Dog Party” supporters will give him their vote on the individual ticket. [Telex]
