Panic gripped Gergely Karácsony, and his relationship with the left-wing parties became strained.
From the point of view of the left, dramatic processes have started in the capital, claim anonymous sources to Magyar Nemzet. There is tension between the actors of the City Hall due to several - closely or loosely connected - cases at the same time.
Conflicts are concentrated around five nodes:
1. Gergely Karácsony panicked because Dávid Vitézy - who has not yet announced his candidacy for mayor - is more popular than expected, and there is a chance that he could defeat Karácsony.
2. Karácsony started to act in a hurry in the last month, he cannot explain his new and new scandals. Such is the case of the fundraising boxes, the scandal surrounding the renovation of the Chain Bridge and the turkey case.
3. The opinion of Karácsony fell sharply among the left-wing parties. The last straw was the turkey case, that is, when the head of BKK compared the passengers to turkeys waiting to be slaughtered, Karácsony did not accept his resignation.
4. Ferenc Gyurcsány gave the ukáz to the DK: Karácsony should not be attacked, but neither should it be defended.
5. On the left, they are worried that the scandalous cases running in parallel could reduce the popularity of Karácsony, who in a similar situation withdrew from the primaries in 2021. Due to the many mistakes, some people came up with plan B, i.e. replacing Karácsony with another candidate for mayor.
You can almost feel the tension in the City Hall, the previous confidence of Gergely Karácsony evaporated in a month behind us, he is piling up mistake after mistake, panic is starting to take over him - believe several of the left-wing politicians who informed our newspaper. All this is closely related to the fact that Dávid Vitézy entered the scene as one of the possible challengers of the mayor.
The transport expert and former state secretary has not yet declared himself a candidate, he only said in public that he is considering a possible run in the June 9 local government election, but according to some polls, he already has over twenty percent support. Sources with insight into the internal affairs of the City Hall believe that this is why Gergely Karácsony is showing signs of panic, he feels that his election victory, which was believed to be mirror-smooth, is in danger, and this nervous atmosphere has led to the mayor's series of left-handed actions in recent weeks.
There are those on the left who believe that Karácsony made a serious mistake in several high-profile cases: the horrible communication of the reduced number of flights introduced in public transport, as well as the completely unreliable explanations about the donation boxes, and the bridge money scandal, i.e. the suspicion of corruption arising in connection with the renovation of the Chain Bridge is increasingly " they burn" for Gergely Karácsony.
The uncertain mood also worries many actors on the left, because the governing parties have not yet named their candidate for mayor, and Dávid Vitézy is not yet an official candidate, so the mayor does not yet have a real, potential challenger.
It is typical of the internal relations of the City Hall that, according to information, the mayor was persuaded by his chief of staff, Samu Balogh, not to accept the resignation of the BKK leader, Walter Katalin, who likened the passengers to turkeys ready for slaughter. By the way, it is well known about Walter that he is Gordon Bajnai's confidant, and for a year and a half from 2013 he was the former left-wing prime minister's chief of staff. With this, Karácsony made a decisive mistake for several reasons: on the one hand, the left-wing parties were in favor of Walter's departure, so the atmosphere between Karácsony and his allies became tense, on the other hand
the City Hall is afraid that by keeping Walter in his position, Karácsony has practically "adopted" the turkey analogy, and this could cost him a lot in the election campaign.
Although Ferenc Gyurcsány does not attack Gergely Karácsony, he did not side with him either. It is known that the president of the DK issued the edict in his party that Christmas should not be attacked, but it should not be defended either. This atmosphere was also felt in Gergely Karácsony's staff.
The situation of the mayor, who is preparing for the campaign, is further complicated by the fact that, according to reports, he had a fight with Csaba Tordai, who is a kind of all-rounder, a key person at the City Hall, since he sees all contracts and proposals. The broken relationship between the two can cause problems in the daily operation of the capital municipality.
In addition, Tordai may have played an important role in the campaign financing scandal of the 99 Movement founded by Karácsony.
Some people said that Karácsony and Tordai - who used to have a particularly good personal relationship - are not even talking to each other these days. And this unsettles the mayor, who until now mainly relies on his chief legal advisor in everyday life.
Several sources of Magyar Nemzet believe that the mayor's campaign is already stuck at the start, that Karácsony makes many mistakes.
On the left, they remember that Gergely Karácsony's popularity began to decline in the summer of 2021, when the mayor threw in the towel in an incomprehensible way for many and stepped back in favor of Péter Márki-Zay, who was performing worse than him. Some opposition politicians fear that if the mayor feels that he has fallen into a negative spiral, he may give up the fight prematurely.
Sensing the haste and panic of Christmas, in certain left-wing circles, the development of plan B is already on the agenda, which means that they are looking for an alternative candidate for mayor.
Cover image: Gyurcsány neither attacks nor defends the mayor
Source: MTI/Zoltán Balogh
