Opposition mayor candidate promises green city in local election programme

Joint candidate of the opposition Socialists and Parbeszed parties for Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony promised a free, green and liveable city in his election programme launched on Saturday.

Karácsony said he would work for a city where residents have a better quality of life and can therefore live longer.

Instead of being a strong-handed leader, the candidate said he wanted to lead a strong city. He added that he insisted on the pre-selection of opposition candidates because he believed in the power of the community and wanted to develop his programme’s priorities in cooperation with Budapest residents.

Featured image: MTI

Karácsony cited the example of Vienna which he said had been run by progressive mayors for a hundred years.

He called for a strong community-based home rental scheme and said that people who buy an annual card should not pay more than one hundred forints (30 euro cents) a day for using public transport.

He promised establishing a “green corridor” in Budapest from Margaret Island through Hajógyári Island to Római embankment in the north and pledged to prevent “unnecessary developments” such as a “sneaking Olympics project”.

Karácsony called for a clean, well-ordered and safe city and promised to pay “metropolitan bonuses” to police.

Commenting on the financial resources needed for developments, he said at least a thousand billion forints could be gained from stopping projects that are not supported by the majority of Budapest residents, only by the ruling Fidesz party.

Featured image: www.facebook.com/KardosIldikóPhotography

Source: MTI