Opposition Jobbik’s splinter group forms new political party

The Our Homeland movement, a splinter group of opposition Jobbik, is set to continue as a political party of its own, the movement’s founder announced at its inaugural rally on Saturday.

Our Homeland founder László Toroczkai, a former deputy leader of Jobbik, told the rally in the southern Hungarian village of Ásotthalom, where he is mayor, that the movement’s “comradely community” had been brought together by a desire to “lift up the country”.

The movement wants to offer people a positive vision for the future and build a country to which Hungarians return from abroad rather than emigrate from.

“We want a Hungary in Europe that remains as a white island, whether the European Union survives or disappears,” said Toroczkai, seen by many as a hardliner.

He said their programme would aim to address the issues of Hungary’s population decline and the “exodus of people”. Their tasks include ensuring a fairer sharing of burdens in Hungarian society and helping the hundreds of thousands of troubled foreign-currency loan-holders, he added.

A further task Toroczkai mentioned was fighting the “Islamisation of Europe”.

Jobbik’s disciplinary committee decided on June 8 to exclude from the party Toroczkai, who had earlier run for Jobbik’s leadership unsuccessfully, then attempted to set up a platform of his own.

Former Jobbik and currently independent MP Dóra Dúró told the rally that she was ready to take up a role in parliament representing Our Homeland.

She named demography as Hungary’s most pressing issue, calling it the biggest challenge of the 21st century.

Dúró said they wanted to build a party that puts promoting the national cause first. She said they were “not afraid of addressing the country’s communist past or speaking openly about tensions between Hungarians and Roma”. She vowed to also address the issue of “the EU’s colonisation of Hungary”.

Előd Novák, an ousted deputy leader of Jobbik, said Jobbik had lost 51 local council seats across the country over the past few months. Several members working as mayors or local assembly deputies have left the party, he added. He said their movement would prepare its programme over the next few months.

Featured image: MTI

Source: MTI