Pro-EU Dobrev leads in opposition primary to take on Hungary's Orban

Klara Dobrev, candidate of the opposition party Democratic Coalition running in the race to become the opposition's joint candidate for prime minister, meets with supporters during the first round of the opposition primary election, in Budapest, Hungary, September 28, 2021. Picture taken September 28, 2021. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Klara Dobrev, a 49-year-old lawyer, has emerged as the front-runner in a joint opposition bid to unseat Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban in 2022 elections, partial results of an opposition primary showed on Thursday.

Dobrev, whose candidacy would raise the prospect of Hungary's first female prime minister, is in a close race with Budapest's leftist mayor Gergely Karacsony, 46, who beat the ruling Fidesz party incumbent in a major upset for nationalist Orban in a 2019 Budapest mayoral election.