Opposition parties address parliament’s autumn opening session
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Addressing parliament’s opening autumn session on Monday in which Prime Minister Viktor Orbán promised government cooperation “to all mayors and local councils that are themselves ready to cooperate”, opposition leaders said the outcome of the local elections heralded a new era for successful opposition cooperation.
Jobbik
Péter Jakab, leader of the Jobbik parliamentary group, said “the reunification of the nation” had begun on the day of the local election, and voters had signalled their intention to change the government in the 2022 general election.
After the prime minister made his opening speech, Jakab said voters on Oct. 13 had not given into “threats, blackmail and intimidation” and instead had opted for the most credible opposition candidate.
He added that
around 4 million “compatriots” in 10 major cities and the capital, as well as “countless smaller towns”, had “bought a ticket for the change of government in 2022”.
Socialists
Responding to the PM’s speech, Bertalan Tóth, the Socialist Party’s group leader, pledged the opposition would continue its cooperation. “We’ll be working together up to 2022”. He said the opposition parties had got the message of voters and now the opposition would have to perform better in smaller cities. Localities run by opposition councils will have to work hard to reduce social inequalities, he added.
Párbeszéd
Párbeszéd group leader Tímea Szabó said the local council elections had marked the start of opposition cooperation.
“We have now liberated Budapest and we will liberate the whole country in 2022,” she said after the PM’s speech.
She said the elections had shown that Budapest residents and those of many big cities were now “fed up” with the ruling parties and “crave for freedom” after the “threats and extortion of millions of people”. Szabo said Budapest, which generates 37 percent of GDP, only clawed back one percent in funding, and this had led to “the destruction of hospitals”.