Opposition parties submit reports to police on alleged Kozgep involvement in election campaign

Budapest, April 4 (MTI) – The left-of-centre Unity opposition alliance has said it will submit a report to police in connection with a recording in which ruling Fidesz party politicians allegedly discuss the involvement of construction firm Kozgep in the election campaign.

The sound recording was released by news portal nyugat.hu.

Socialist lawmaker Gabor Harangozo told a press conference in Budapest on Friday that the recording reveals that Fidesz is not a party anymore but a “public maffia network financed by Kozgep”.

Harangozo, a candidate of the left-wing alliance in Siofok in western Hungary, said the recording includes Siofok Mayor Arpad Balazs and Fidesz-Christian Democrat candidate Mihaly Witzmann discussing how Kozgep would win a tender from the local council in exchange for supporting the ruling party’s campaign, “as it has done in the past”.

This shows that Balazs and Witzmann had confidential information about the public procurement tender results and also knew that another construction firm, Epkar Zrt, linked to Fidesz MEP Erik Banki, was not interested in completing the Siofok hospital construction project, he added.

Harangozo said Balazs had already admitted that he was one of the participants in the recorded conversation and the other person was Witzmann.