Hungarian ruling parties bill on election campaign billboards fails

The government bill seeking to prevent all political advertisements on billboards outside of the official campaign period failed on Wednesday to receive the two-thirds majority needed to pass.

The bill also stipulated that in the campaign period, all political players should be charged the same for the use of advertising surfaces.

The bill had been proposed by leader of the ruling Fidesz party’s parliamentary group, Lajos Kósa, together with three other Fidesz MPs, who said that the proposal aimed to thwart covert attempts by “billionaires trying to influence Hungarian politics” and to ensure transparency.

LMP

Green opposition LMP‘s co-leader Ákos Hadházy told the press after the decision that LMP had voted against the bill “because it had nothing in common with LMP’s original proposal”. The party’s original bill submitted in April this year would have completely banned billboard advertising by state-owned companies and institutions, and would have expanded the bill to include all forms of advertising.

Socialists

Socialist group leader Bertalan Tóth welcomed the outcome of the parliamentary vote, saying that if the law had passed this would have left a loophole open for the government and the local authority to circumvent the ban, since the [pro-government Civil Unity Forum] COF and [Fidesz youth arm] Fidelitas would not have not been covered by the law.

Jobbik

Janos Volner, group leader of Jobbik, said that Fidesz had “lost an important battle”.

Jobbik has maintained an anti-government billboard campaign with the backing of Lajos Simicska, a one-time friend of the prime minister’s and a former key figure of the Fidesz party. The construction magnate and media mogul has fallen out with Viktor Orbán and the Fidesz party.

The ruling party is “scared to death” that the opposition could win and they would be held accountable for “stealing left and right”, Volner said. Fidesz is waging a “mafia war” against Simicska, he said. Jobbik intends to stay out of this “gang warfare”, he added.

Source: MTI