DK MEP Dobrev presents shadow cabinet

She said shadow cabinet members were “respected experts” in their respective fields.

Deputy party leader Csaba Molnar will take up post of shadow chancellery minister and shadow deputy prime minister responsible for EU affairs and public administration reform.

Zoltan Bodnar, a former deputy governor of the National Bank of Hungary, will be shadow finance minister, the only non-elected official, Dobrev said, noting Bodnar’s expertise in budgetary, fiscal and monetary policy.

MEP Sandor Ronai, the shadow foreign minister, is tasked with restoring Hungary’s image abroad and reviving Visegrad Group cooperation.

The post of shadow interior minister has been assigned to Geza Musto, deputy mayor of Budapest’s 10th district, while Ferenc David will be shadow economy minister. Among other shadow cabinet posts, Agnes Vadai, former defence minister, will take up the shadow defence job.

Asked why Ferenc Gyurcsany, the former Socialist prime minister, has not been tapped for a shadow cabinet position, DK’s spokeswoman Olga Kalman said the DK leader had already made it clear that he would focus on leading the party and its parliamentary group, and would not accept a government position.

Ruling Fidesz said in reaction that Dobrev’s shadow cabinet was an attempt by Gyurcsany to return to power.

“We said so a long time ago and now they’re not even trying to hide the fact that Ferenc Gyurcsany is the one in charge on the left and wants to get back in power, and with his own people, no less,” the party said in a statement.

Fidesz said the left-wing opposition’s spring election campaign had been nothing more than “a show”, insisting that Gyurcsany had been in control then, too.

“Gyurcsany and his people have already demonstrated how they govern,” Fidesz said. “They brought the country and the Hungarian economy to ruin, pushed Hungary to the brink of bankruptcy and into mass unemployment, and impoverished the people with a series of austerity measures and utility bill hikes.”