Hungary has gone through two national election campaigns (2010 and 2014), in which Prime Minister Viktor Orbán refused to engage his opponents in televised debates.
On Tuesday, Socialist MP Bertalan Tóth and independent MP Tímea Szabó (who is a candidate on the joint MSZP – Párbeszéd list for the 8th April election) proposed an amendment to the election law that would require the sitting Hungarian prime minister to engage in two debates during national election
The radical nationalist Jobbik party held a campaign-closing event on Friday evening, featuring a debate intended to resemble the one Prime Minister Viktor Orban had earlier rejected to attend.
Hungarian Socialist party leader Attila Mesterhazy challenged Prime Minister Viktor Orban to a televised debate at an opposition rally on Sunday, ahead of the election on April 6 that Orban’s Fidesz party looks well-placed to win.
The ruling Fidesz party does not see an opportunity for a television debate between Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Attila Mesterhazy, the leftist parties’ joint candidate for premier, because “the Left does not have a candidate suitable for government,” Fidesz said in a statement on Sunday.