Hungary's opposition Socialists lose PM candidate, in disarray ahead of 2018 vote

By Marton Dunai BUDAPEST (Reuters) - The Hungarian Socialist Party's candidate to be prime minister after the 2018 parliamentary election resigned on Monday, accusing a "political mafia" of undermining leftist parties he had hoped would support him. The upheaval cements populist right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban as favourite to win a third straight term in April's vote, and prompted the former far-right Jobbik party to lay claim to the left's voters. The Socialists governed Hungary for three terms in the 1990s and 2000s and have tried to forge a leftist coalition to unseat Orban's ruling Fidesz party. But Laszlo Botka, chosen as the Socialist candidate in January, said fellow opposition parties were not fighting hard enough to replace Orban, whose party he said had infiltrated the opposition. "I made a mistake," Botka wrote in a statement on Monday. "I did not think democratic parties only wanted a few seats in the Parliament of the Orban regime and not victory in 2018... I did not know how much a political mafia has infused the democratic opposition, including my own party." Last week Botka made an offer to half a dozen parties to hammer out an electoral coalition but most smaller parties rejected his offer, including the Democratic Coalition, led by former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany. With Gyurcsany - whose participation in the election Botka has rejected - refusing to step down and several smaller parties going it alone, the alliance was set to fizzle out. The radical nationalist party Jobbik - once a racist and anti-Semitic group which has toned down its message in an effort to capture more support - said the Socialists were now breathing their last and offered itself as a leftist alternative to voters. "Not only the Socialists but the entire left wing imploded today," Jobbik spokesman Peter Jakab told reporters. "Fidesz-infused small parties... show no strength, together or one by one. The only force to unseat the government is Jobbik." "That also means Jobbik offers an alternative to everyone who wants a different government. That includes leftist voters." Socialist vice chairman Istvan Ujhelyi, a member of the European Parliament, also resigned his party post. "Orbanistan clearly infiltrated the opposition, installing its people in nearly all potent movements," he said. "For now, it seems the coup has reached its goal: the democratic forces have become extremely divided." The Socialists have been the strongest leftist party in recent polls, conducted before Botka's move. Socialist Chairman Gyula Molnar told a press conference that he would not resign and the party would continue to seek options to unseat Orban. "The Socialist Party cannot on its own defeat the current regime, but I continue to see a way to cooperate with the other forces. That includes the Democratic Coalition, naturally," he said. Fidesz, which has a firm lead in polls, said in a statement that Botka's candidature "was full of scandals and his demise is not surprising... Their next candidate will come from the same Socialist mould." Leftist opposition parties did not immediately comment. (Reporting by Marton Dunai; Editing by Toby Chopra)