The ruling Fidesz party will propose banning all political billboard posters outside the election campaign period, the party’s deputy group leader told a news conference on Wednesday.
Gergely Gulyás said Lajos Simicska, a businessman with media and advertising interests, was behind the current poster campaign of the opposition Jobbik party depicting Fidesz personalities as thieves.
Simicska was once a key figure in Fidesz until he fell out with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. When Simicska was Orbán’s partner, the businessman became the biggest billboard place holder and he won almost every state tenders just because their friendship.
Gulyás accused Simicska of “buying” Jobbik.
He said those who vote for a transparency bill which aims to block covert party financing — requiring a two-thirds majority to pass — would be on the side of thwarting corruption.
Gábor Staudt of Jobbik said in a statement that the proposal “put dictatorships of developing countries to shame”, infringed on the freedom of expression and opinion and was likely unconstitutional. “Fidesz will stop at nothing to make campaigning for the opposition impossible and its own messages the only ones available”, he said. By the same standards, ads appearing in media outlets could also be banned, he said. The media is, however, largely government dominated, and so Fidesz has no interest in curbing ads there, he said.
Photo: Balázs Béli
Source: MTI/Daily News Hungary
