Hungary: Budapest mayor pulls out of opposition primary race

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The mayor of Hungary's capital on Friday announced he would withdraw from a primary contest which will choose a joint opposition nominee to challenge right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban, ending his candidacy in a race in which he was once considered the frontrunner.

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony said at a news conference that he was bringing his candidacy for prime minister to an end, and asked his supporters to get behind his opponent, moderate conservative Peter Marki-Zay, in the interests of “reuniting Hungary.”

Karacsony’s withdrawal came after a week of back-and-forth negotiations with Marki-Zay, the independent mayor of a small Hungarian city, over which of the two men had the best chance of winning the second round of the primary set to begin Sunday — and then defeating Orban in a national election next spring.

Though the liberal Karacsony had several disagreements with Marki-Zay on policy, he said, “I came to the conclusion that if I do not (step aside), then Viktor Orban will remain, and the significance of the political debates between us will go up in smoke."

“I believe that Peter Marki-Zay can unite the opposition,” he said.

The two-round primary race is part of a hard-won strategy by Hungary’s six main opposition parties to put aside ideological differences and mount a single challenger to Orban after more than a decade of bitter losses to his Fidesz party, which holds a two-thirds majority in parliament.

Total unity is the only method, they say, to overcome an electoral system authored by Orban’s party that gives it an unfair advantage.

Their coalition includes green, liberal and right-wing parties, as well as Marki-Zay's “Everyone's Hungary Movement,” an independent civic political initiative.

Despite coming in third...