HUNGARY: Viktor Orban, a former anti-communist firebrand and icon to millions of Hungarian conservatives, stunned the nation yesterday by withdrawing his candidacy for prime minister, in a desperate bid to unite the right-wing and oust the ruling Socialists.
Trailing the Socialist coalition after Sunday's first round of voting, Mr Orban's Fidesz party is seen as doomed to defeat in the April 23rd deciding round unless it forges an alliance with the far smaller Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF).
"It is clear that Fidesz cannot form a government without MDF," Mr Orban said, an embarrassing admission for a party that spent much of the 1990s luring away members of the MDF and eroding its support base.
"We have proposed a candidate for prime minister from the Hungarian Democratic Forum's side," he declared, without naming the nominee.
After winning near hero status in Hungary for his opposition to communism in the late 1980s, Mr Orban took Fidesz from the liberal left to the conservative right in the 1990s, on the way abandoning his anti-clericalism and championing Church-backed "family values".
He was Europe's youngest prime minister when serving from 1998-2002, but was loathed by the Socialist party for perpetually referring to its communist roots, and hated by many on the right for crushing other conservative parties to bolster Fidesz.
Though he has softened occasionally nationalist rhetoric, Mr Orban has been lambasted by the MDF for lavish spending pledges that they call a betrayal of true conservatism.
In an open letter to Mr Orban, MDF leader Ibolya David urged Fidesz to publicly renounce a raft of its most extravagant campaign promises, which she called shallow populist slogans that would swell an already huge budget deficit.
Most analysts predict a Socialist victory on April 23rd, even if Fidesz and the MDF seal a partnership.