Election 2018 – Former PM Gyurcsány sets out stall
Ferenc Gyurcsány, the leader of the leftist Democratic Coalition (DK), on Saturday set out his party’s stall, promising a new electoral law, a fresh wage agreement and formula for raising the value of pensions.
Addressing DK’s party congress and campaign opener, the former Socialist prime minister said the first task on winning office would be to sack Hungary’s public prosecutor, Péter Polt, and join the European Union’s Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) which 20 EU member states signed up to in October last year.
Gyurcsány also promised to increase the wages of doctors and nurses by half as much again and procure 150 CT and MRI machines.
He said
the minimum wage should be raised so that it reaches the minimum subsistence level.
As for pensions, he said a formula would be implemented that would incorporate the economic rate of growth and inflation rate into the calculation for payment increases.
Gyurcsány also said a DK government would put an end to financial damage done to the state due to “Fidesz oligarchs”.
He pledged to introduce a basic internet service that would be free of charge.
Further, he pledged to restore the school-leaving age to 18 from 16 and reintroduce four-year vocational training. Moreover, he would abolish “privileges” enjoyed by church-run schools. Gyurcsány said a DK administration would revise the Vatican Treaty, and set up an independent committee to investigate cases of abuse within the church.
Other manifesto promises included abolishing child hunger, making the “basic” use of household energy free of charge, halting the Paks nuclear power station expansion project and supporting renewable energy.
Referring to the current prime minister, Viktor Orbán,
The former PM vowed to put an end to “the Orbán dictatorship”.
He said DK believed in freedom, democracy and respecting human dignity while taking responsibility for each other, “because it is this way that the well-being of communities and individuals can be created for the most people.”
Commenting on Gyurcsány’s speech, the ruling Fidesz party said in a statement that DK’s leader had “forsworn” national sovereignty and he would shape migration policy accordingly.
Balázs Hidveghi, the party’s communications chief, said Gyurcsány had already “ruined the country once”. “His government was one of the most corrupt of all time. Its austerity measures hurt families, it raised taxes and stripped public employees of month’s wages,” he said, referring to Gyurcsány’s rule from 2004 to 2009.
Gyurcsány disavowed Hungary of its national sovereignty in economic and energy policy and he would do the same when it comes to migration policy by “implementing the Soros plan and settling migrants in the country,” the Fidesz spokesman said.
Source: MTI
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