The Socialists' party lists

It would seem that the Socialists are seriously concerned that their junior coalition partner will fall at the 5% hurdle, not making it into parliament - and thereby undermining the Socialist Party's own chances of forming the next government. In more than one constituency, the party has chosen its nominees to help the Free Democrats. In some places, they are swapping out better known politicians to give the Free Democrat nominee a better chance. In other places, they are promoting joint nominations with the Free Democrats. This can be seen most clearly in Kecskemét and Szeged, and party headquarters have informally confirmed this strategy to HVG. There are 65 new names on the single-member constituency lists, which the Socialists finalised last week. In Heves, Komárom-Esztergom and Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok counties there are no changes, and little has changed in Budapest.

For a while it seemed that the governing parties were at loggerheads in Kecskemét, each seeking to adopt the current, highly popular, mayor, who left Fidesz last spring. Gábor Kuncze, the Free Democrat president recently introduced the civic leader as his own candidate at a liberal meeting in the city. The Socialists swiftly reacted in a statement, saying that they regarded Gábor Szécsi, the mayor in question, as their own candidate. Szécsi told the HVG that there was no contradiction between the two parties' claims: he was a joint nominee. He did have a view as to which parliamentary group he would join if he were elected, he said, but he was keeping this to himself for the time being, since he did not want to influence inter-party negotiations. It is believed the Szécsi chose the Free Democrats, with the Socialists' full consent.

The situation is similar in Szeged, where it was expected that József Alajos Géczi, the current president of the parliamentary immunity committee, would be nominated. But it now seems that Klára Sándor, a Free Democrat spokesperson, will be the two parties' common nominee. But negotiations are still in progress. Géczi is on the Socialists' official list, and they are insisting that the Free Democrats not run against party chairman István Újhelyi and László Botka, the mayor. The Free Democrats are still hesitating, since they would like to nominate Sándor Nagy, mayor of Szeged, and because Klára Sándor's chances would seem to be slim against the independent MP László Balogh, a former Hungarian Democratic Forum member who now enjoys the support of Fidesz. Most of the nominees in Csongrád are Socialist mayors.