Hungarian opposition parties lay down joint government principles

Parties of the parliamentary opposition on Tuesday signed an agreement concerning principles of a joint government should they win the next general election in 2022.

Signatories of the document pledged efforts to build a “democratic, socially equitable, environment- and climate conscious, cooperative Hungary”.

The document was signed by leaders of conservative Jobbik, Momentum, green LMP, Párbeszéd, the Socialist Party, and leftist Democratic Coalition.

Speaking at a joint press conference held online, Jobbik chairman Péter Jakab said that

his party would “build a better Hungary than it was in the past 30 years”, seeking “peace in society, an end to hatred, elimination of divides, and reunification of the nation”.

Momentum leader András Fekete-Győr said his party’s ideal was a “new republic in which voters control the government rather than vice versa”. Momentum supports the rule of law, and the freedoms of the press, education, and art, he said, adding that they would want to live in a country in which “it is not a single person shaping the future but residents together”.

Momentum would “put an end to the rule of oligarchs and eliminate corruption… no crime should be left unpunished,” he insisted.

LMP co-leader Erzsébet Schmuck said that her party was preparing to participate in a government which “considers the future of the planet” in addition to “considerations for the present”. The goals should include building an environment-conscious society and handling a demographic crisis. She made mention of migration, and said that its causes, climate change and violent conflicts, should be managed. To that end she called for European cooperation but added that migration-related decisions should continue to be made by national governments.

Tímea Szabó, Párbeszéd’s co-leader, said one of the main goals of the six parties was to create a “caring society” focusing on the elderly, the sick, and the poor, a society in which “everybody is significant and each child is an asset”. She called for fair distribution and equal acces to public services, a society with “no privileged”.

Socialist co-chair Ágnes Kunhalmi said that the country’s development should rest on the skills and creativity of its residents, and called for a “free and fair education system ensuring promotion in society”. She also said it was fundamental to ensure “fair wages for decent work, and a decent pension for a lifetime of hard work”.

Democratic Coalition leader Ferenc Gyurcsány said

the opposition alliance was seeking to form a “patriotic and European” government, and voiced support for Hungary’s European Union membership.

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Source: MTI