Együtt

SURVEY – Ruling parties backed by 32 pc

Budapest, December 3 (MTI) – Some 32 percent of all voters supported the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrats in a survey prepared by Nézőpont Institute.

The opposition Jobbik party stayed at 12 percent, the opposition Socialists lost 1 percentage point and stood at 7 percent and opposition DK returned to 5 percent, the pollster said on Saturday. The green opposition LMP received 3 percent support from all voters and the small opposition parties Együtt, the Liberals and the Two-tailed Dog Party received 1 percent each.

On commission by daily Magyar Idők, Nézőpont also asked people about what effects they expected from the election of Donald Trump as US president. Only 51 percent of all people interviewed had an opinion, 32 percent said that the Republican president would bring a favourable change for Hungary and 19 percent said it was bad for Hungary. Nine out of ten people have heard about the US presidential election and six out of ten said they had discussed the results with others.

As many as 82 percent of the supporters of the ruling parties were optimistic about Trump and 40 percent of left-wing supporters were optimistic about him. 60 percent of Jobbik supporters said that his election was good for Hungary.

December 4, 2016

Együtt: Orbán sabotages dialogue in EU

Budapest (MTI) – In the past year and a half Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has managed to “completely foreclose dialogue on finding a solution (to the current crisis) in the European Union,” the opposition Együtt party said on Saturday.

Addressing the party’s annual congress in Budapest, party leader Viktor Szigetvári said Orbán has taken unauthorised measures acting on his own, and cooperated in “making the EU crumble”.

“Orbán has poisoned Hungary,” with his hate campaign, said Szigetvári, adding that since the Bratislava summit the prime minister has been caught in a “web of lies”.

Hungary needs “clear rules instead of prejudice, asylum instead of billboard campaigns, cooperation instead of nationalism, and a middle ground instead of extremism,” he said.

The party congress decided that Együtt will run on a separate list at the 2018 parliamentary elections, the party said in a statement sent to MTI. A move towards democracy, a welfare turn, a changed approach to education and western-oriented politics are needed after 2018, it said. Együtt called on the opposition in parliament to act together “in order to change unfair and disproportionate” election rules.

Photos: MTI

September 25, 2016

Government, opposition discuss EU future

Budapest (MTI) – Politicians discussed the future of the European Union and Hungary’s place in it at a conference on Wednesday, with all sides agreeing that the EU could serve as a positive force as long as Hungary is able to enforce its interests within it.

State Secretary Nándor Csepreghy said on behalf of the government that the EU in its current state was pointless, but added that the bloc should confront its demographic and economic challenges so that it can redefine its interests and goals. Prime Minister Viktor Orban is also working to ensure that the EU can be changed from within, he said.

The Socialist Party’s Ágnes Kunhalmi described Csepreghy’s remarks as “dangerous”, arguing that Hungary has only benefited from its EU membership. She said it was encouraging that Euroscepticism had not taken hold in Hungary “despite the government propaganda”. But Kunhalmi said the prime minister based his foreign policy in connection with the EU purely on his domestic political goals, which she said undermined Hungary’s ability to enforce its interests within the bloc.

Tibor Bana of the opposition Jobbik party said the EU could be useful if Hungary can enforce its interests “the right way”. He said that after Britain’s decision to leave the bloc, there is a chance to implement reforms that can give more powers to member states. He said the current European Union was not the kind Hungarians had voted to become members of, citing recent surveys that have indicated that two-thirds of Hungarians oppose further integration.

LMP foreign policy spokesman Péter Ungár said the EU was only useful if its “periphery countries” can close the gap to the “centre countries”. He said the EU was not moving in the right direction in this respect.

Viktor Szigetvári, leader of the Együtt party, which organised the conference, said his party wants to advance EU integration in a way that it does not harm the identities of nation states. He said, as an example, that Brussels should give member states more power to fight corruption.

September 22, 2016

Referendum – Vote against government by staying at home, say leftist parties

Budapest, September 18 (MTI) – By boycotting the Oct. 2 referendum on European Union migrant quotas, voters will be voting against the government, the opposition Együtt, Dialogue for Hungary and non-parliamentary MoMa parties said on Sunday.

Viktor Szigetvári, Együtt’s leader, told a news conference that the three parties had joined together to campaign against the government-backed referendum.

Because at least 50 percent of the electorate must turn out to vote in order for the outcome to be legally valid, the parties say the best way of ensuring defeat of the government’s initiative is not to vote at all.

Szigetvári insisted that the ruling Fidesz party and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán were “lying” about Europe, asylum seekers and how to create security and cooperation in Hungary and on the continent, while “stealing our money without any inhibition.”

Bence Tordai, Dialogue’s spokesman, said that government referendum campaign in favour of a “no” vote on migrant quotas was “a tangle of lies”. He accused Orbán of misrepresenting the closing statement of the EU informal summit in Bratislava.

The European community is not about strengthening isolationist, competing nationalism but “we develop our Hungarian and European identities simultaneously,” he said.

Erzsébet Pusztai, MoMa’s deputy leader, said more and more people were noticing that the government has no solutions to important everyday problems. She said it was “scandalous” that Orban spoke of protecting Christian Europe while “trampling in the mud” basic Christian values. She added that the referendum was purely a way for Orban to preserve his power.

In reaction, the ruling Fidesz party said in a statement that the referendum would be a decision about everyone’s future and that of the country. It insisted that the decision was not about political parties or right and left.

“In Brussels there are ever more concrete and dangerous decisions being made on the settlement of migrants,” the statement said, adding that if the “quota package” is enforced, thousands of migrants will be settled into Hungarian towns and villages.

September 19, 2016

Portik supplied money to Juhasz from prison

Budapest, September 9 (MTI) – A former cellmate of Tamás Portik, the one-time head of an oil company involved in illicit deals in the nineties currently serving a 15-year sentence for murder, told commercial TV2 on Thursday that Portik was supplying opposition Együtt deputy leader Péter Juhász with information and money from prison.

Attila Menyhárt told TV2’s evening news programme that by helping Juhász, who has waged an anti-graft campaign against politicians of the ruling Fidesz party, Portik hopes to bring down the government, which he believes is responsible for putting him behind bars.

TV2 noted in its report that news portal pestisracok.hu had said earlier that Portik was supplying an opposition politician with money from prison. The daily Magyar Idők later named Juhász as the possible politician in question.

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/survey-orban-considered-wealthy-dictator-fidesz-considered-corrupt/” color=”red” newwindow=”yes”] SURVEY: ORBÁN IS CONSIDERED A WEALTHY DICTATOR AND FIDESZ IS CONSIDERED CORRUPT[/button]

Juhász later denied having anything to do with Portik in a video posted on his Facebook page. He said he had never met or spoken to Portik outside of a court hearing to which Portik was called to testify.

Juhász did acknowledge, however, that he had met Portik’s representative, Erika F. Juhász said Erika F. had asked him to collect news articles for her from which she could brief Portik, because she did not know how to use the internet.

Giving evidence in court earlier this year, Porik claimed to have known Antal Rogán, a former mayor of Budapest’s downtown 5th district who now heads the cabinet, and had given him an equivalent of 10 million forints in euros. The cabinet office subsequently denied that Portik and Rogán had ever met.

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/prosecutor-rejects-rogans-complaint-against-portik/” color=”black” newwindow=”yes”] Related article: PROSECUTOR REJECTS ROGÁN’S COMPLAINT AGAINST PORTIK[/button]

Portik had been called to testify in a case between Rogán and Juhász at the latter’s request.

Photo: MTI

September 9, 2016

Együtt urges voters to boycott quota referendum

Budapest (MTI) – The opposition Együtt party will urge its voters to abstain from participating in the Oct 2 referendum on the European Union’s migrant quota scheme, the party’s leader said on Friday.

Viktor Szigetvári told a press conference that his party considers the referendum anti-European and anti-refugee, adding that any vote cast on Oct 2 will only help the government.

The official campaign period for the referendum begins on Saturday.

Szigetvári described the referendum as a “deceitful question” asked by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. “Someone who lies in a question doesn’t even deserve an answer,” Szigetvári said.

In the referendum Hungarians will be asked: “Do you want to allow the European Union to mandate the resettlement of non-Hungarian citizens to Hungary without the approval of parliament?”

Szigetvári said voters should not give Orbán a chance to “use [their] votes however he pleases” and urged them to fight the prime minister’s “hate campaign”.

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/tag/referendum-on-migrant-quotas/” color=”black” newwindow=”yes”] All news about REFERENDUM ON MIGRANT QUOTAS[/button]

He said Egyutt believes in showing solidarity in the management of the migrant crisis and wants to guarantee security through European unity. He mentioned the EU’s new border control and management system, migrant quota scheme and registration system as examples of establishing security through partnership.

“Viktor Orbán envisions a weak Hungary that will fall behind and slide to the periphery” of Europe, Szigetvári said, adding that Együtt wants Hungary to work together with its international partners and catch up to leading EU countries.

The ruling Fidesz party responded to Szigetvári’s remarks demanding that Együtt clarify its position on the EU’s “forced settlement” scheme. Fidesz said in a statement that Egyutt’s approach to the question of migrant quotas and the referendum proved that the leftist parties continue to be pro-immigration and want to implement the migrant relocation scheme in Hungary.

August 13, 2016

Együtt wants to prevent MPs from hiding equity owned indirectly

Budapest, August 11 (MTI) – Opposition Együtt is proposing amendments to legislation that would require lawmakers to disclose equity they own indirectly as well as directly.

The current system of asset declarations is “shamefully bad” and instead of improving politicians’ credibility, it makes it worse, party leader Viktor Szigetvári told a press conference on Thursday.

“There is a pressing need for such amendments as politicians often try to hide that companies they own have stakes in firms that handle public monies, with turnover in the range of several billion forints,” he said. Although such information is available in the company register, ordinary citizens cannot be expected to look through it, he added.

Szigetvári said Együtt’s proposal would affect public shareholders’ companies only.

August 11, 2016

Opposition party calls on government to stop ‘residency bond business’

Budapest, July 26 (MTI) – The opposition Együtt party has demanded that the government should drop its “business” of granting permanent residency to foreigners buying a certain amount of state bonds.

Együtt head Viktor Szigetvári told a press conference on Tuesday that rather than seeking “temporary loans to the Hungarian state from foreigners” it would be “more honest” to offer opportunities to skilled foreign job-seekers.

Selling residency bonds is “corrupt business”, Szigetvári said, and noted that under a recent amendment holders of such bonds are granted immediate residency permit in the country.

Szigetvári also said that his party wants information on bond holders to be made public.

Under the scheme launched in 2013, foreign investors buying 300,000 euros worth of state securities are offered a residency permit that can be extended for five years and allows free travel throughout the Schengen zone.

July 26, 2016

Opposition call on government to stop further spending on EU quota referendum

Budapest, July 21 (MTI) – The opposition Együtt party calls on the government to stop spending further funds worth several billion forints on the EU migrant quota referendum’s campaign, the party said on Thursday.

The government-initiated national referendum is set to be held on October 2.

Együtt responded to cabinet chief Antal Rogán saying on Wednesday that further funds were planned to be allocated in August for the purpose.

Rogán’s remarks suggest that the 3 billion forints (EUR 9.5m) earmarked for the campaign before “have run out,” the party said in a statement.

Együtt said the campaign only served the governing party’s interest and called on the government to be a partner in devising a common European solution to the migration issue.

July 21, 2016

Left-wing collaboration will happen?

Budapest, July 11 (MTI) – It is less a question of whether the opposition Socialists will end up joining forces with the leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) than whether doing so would boost their support base by the time of the 2018 election, Nézőpont Institute analyst Dániel Deák told M1 public television on Monday.

The new Socialist Party leader, Gyula Molnár, is nudging closer to Ferenc Gyurcsány’s DK, he said.

So far the Socialists have slammed the European Union migrant quota scheme and the fine mooted for recalcitrants, he noted. But Molnár recently changed tack, suggesting that the quota is a European obligation. Molnár appears to be laying the groundwork for cooperation with DK, and “in two years’ time the parties may merge”.

“Collaboration is not in question anymore, but we still have to wait until 2017 to find out which party can enforce its interest better and which party fields the joint candidate for prime minister,” said Deák.

Since the majority of voters rejects the EU quota scheme, the left-wing opposition, including Együtt, Dialogue for Hungary and the Liberal Party, will find it hard to expand their base, especially since they are not unified on the matter, he said.

A further problem for Molnar’s Socialists comes in the form of Gyurcsány himself, “one of the most disliked politicians”, Deák said.

July 11, 2016

Leftist opposition parties accuse govt of seeking exit from EU

Budapest, June 30 (MTI) – Recent remarks by the government office chief reveal that the government aims at steering Hungary out of the European Union, Socialist MEP István Ujhelyi said in a statement on Thursday.

The leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) said that the government would seek authorisation to quit the EU through Hungary’s quota referendum in the autumn.

Earlier in the day, János Lázár said in connection with Brexit that he, too, could not “vote in support of continued membership full-heartedly” and voiced disapproval of “what happens in Brussels”. He added that the EU’s institutions were doing more harm to the European cause than they promoted resolution of the community’s problems.

Ujhelyi called Lázár’s remarks “appalling” and noted that Lázár himself was in charge of distributing “thousands of billions of forints” in EU subsidies to the country.

Lázár’s words cannot be taken as a private opinion and if his vision of Hungary’s future is that of a country outside the EU, he must resign from his post, Ujhelyi said.

DK’s executive vice chair Csaba Molnár said in a statement that the government could use the quota referendum as an excuse to leave the EU, and called on voters to stay away from the upcoming vote. Boycotting the referendum will be equal to voting remain, he insisted.

The opposition Együtt said Lázár’s remarks revealed the ruling “Fidesz’s real plan” which is to steer Hungary out of the EU. The real purpose of the planned quota referendum is to weaken the European Union and steer Hungary out of Europe, the party said in a statement.

July 1, 2016

POLL – Party support unchanged with Fidesz lead over opposition

Budapest (MTI) – Support for political parties has remained practically unchanged this month compared with May, with the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance maintaining its lead over the opposition, according to a fresh poll released by the Nézőpont Institute on Wednesday.

Among all voters, support for Fidesz-KDNP stood at 28 percent, radical nationalist Jobbik came second with 13 percent, the Socialists received 8 percent and the leftist Democratic Coalition 7 percent, the poll commissioned by weekly Heti válasz said. In this group, LMP held 4 percent, and Együtt and Dialogue for Hungary (PM) 1 percent each, which is below the parliamentary threshold.

The pollster noted that a unified leftist opposition made up of the Socialists, DK, Együtt and PM with a combined 17 percent support would narrowly beat out Jobbik.

Among decided voters with clear party preferences, support for Fidesz-KDNP was 40 percent, for Jobbik 24 percent, for the Socialists 11 percent and for DK 10 percent. LMP in this camp stood with 7 percent, Együtt with 2 percent and PM with 1 percent.

Nézőpont conducted the phone poll with a sample of 1,000 voting-age adults between June 17 and 19.

June 30, 2016

After BREXIT – Parliamentary parties responses

Budapest, June 24 (MTI) – Several opposition parties called on the Hungarian government to respond to the outcome of the UK referendum on leaving the EU by withdrawing a referendum on the EU’s migrant quota scheme set for September.

The opposition Együtt party said the UK vote has given warning that EU member states should strive for closer cooperation. Viktor Szigetvári, the party’s leader, said the result was regrettable as it would weaken both the European community and Britain itself. He called on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to stop “stirring up emotions against Europe with his anti-European referendum campaign”. Együtt will boycott the Hungarian referendum on the EU’s migrant quota regime, he said. He added that Hungary should do all it can to protect the rights of Hungarians working in the UK in light of Brexit.

The Liberals also called on the government to withdraw the referendum on migrant quotas. The party’s foreign affairs spokesman, Istvan Szent-Ivanyi, said the referendum adds to similar emotional warfare that has led to Brexit in the UK.

The radical nationalist Jobbik party said the UK leave vote had been “history’s largest smack in the face”, noting that Brussels must now “re-examine its approach and stop ignoring the will of nation states”. Marton Gyöngyösi, a lawmaker for the party, said the British vote is a signal to Hungary, too, that it is “possible to fight for new conditions”.

The leftist opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) called for the Hungarian referendum on quotas to be cancelled as it would “lead to Hungary’s exit from the EU”. Csaba Molnár, the party’s deputy leader, told a press conference on Friday that the outcome of the EU vote was “tragic” and that it was the result of an anti-EU campaign by the conservative right run over the past 20 years. That campaign turned into an anti-immigration one and it is similar to what Orban was pursuing in Hungary.

The co-ruling Christian Democrats said Brexit was a warning that “the European Union’s leadership, operations and efficiency must be changed in future”. This result is about a “crisis of values and in many cases about an inability to act,” the party said in a statement.

The opposition Dialogue for Hungary (PM) party said the government should engage in talks immediately with the British government on protecting the welfare rights of Hungarians working there. Tímea Szabó, the party’s co-leader, told a press conference on Friday that the government should do all it can to protect the 300,000 Hungarians so that they would not have to “come home to a gruesome situation”. Benedek Javor, MEP for the PM party, said the weakening of Europe puts the wind in Russia’s sails, and the Hungarian government “mustn’t assist in this process any longer”.

The opposition LMP party said bad EU leadership and policies have led to Brexit, but the Hungarian government’s number one task now is to protect the interests of Hungarians in the country. LMP supports Hungary’s EU membership but it would renegotiate the bloc’s basic charter, for one, to exclude farmland from the free movement of capital clause.

József Tóbiás, leader of the Socialist party, said at a press conference that the Hungarian government’s EU quota referendum could be the first step to Hungary leaving the union. He added that as a result of Brexit economic growth would slow in Hungary and EU funding will diminish, while it remains moot what happens to the 300,000 Hungarians working in the UK. He said while “European leaders are holding crisis summits to deal with problems at a joint level, Orban is trying to link the migrant issue to his own referendum”. He said Hungary would pay a large price if it continues down the road of the government’s populist policies that have brought conflict and divisions on European matters over the past years.

June 24, 2016

Opposition: Orbán Hungary’s richest man with EUR 650m handled by “front men”

Budapest, May 14 (MTI) – Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is Hungary’s richest man with 205 billion forints (EUR 650m) managed by his “front men”, the opposition Egyutt party told a press conference on Saturday.

Citing the party’s own calculations based on a list of the wealthiest 100 Hungarians published recently, co-leader Viktor Szigetvári said just because Orbán has asked family members and fellow politicians to handle his assets, “that money is still his”. The amount he has accumulated over 15-20 years mainly through media and construction sector investments is “incredible wealth”, Szigetvári said.

He said Együtt would start a campaign disclosing information about businesspeople who had “gathered wealth from taxpayer money”.

The Prime Minister’s Press Office said in a statement that Orbán had published his declaration of assets which is “a genuine account of his wealth and in line with the law.”

Last Thursday, napi.hu published its list of the wealthiest Hungarians with Sándor Csányi, owner of agribusiness Bonafarm and head of OTP Bank, again topping the list. Csányi, whose assets now reach 200 billion, up 35 billion from 2015, has been at the top of the list since 2011. Runner-up was László Bige, who is in the artificial fertiliser business, with assets of 175 billion forints. Construction industry magnate Sándor Demján was in third place with assets of 120 billion forints.

May 14, 2016

Opposition parties lambast migrant quota referendum

Budapest, May 3 (MTI) – Hungary’s opposition parties slammed the government’s planned referendum on the European Union’s proposed mandatory migrant quota scheme after the supreme court approved the vote in a binding decision on Tuesday.

As we wrote, the Kúria rejected appeals submitted against the National Election Committee’s decision to pass the referendum question.

The radical nationalist Jobbik party said parliament should reject mandatory migrant quotas by amending the constitution instead of holding a referendum. Lawmaker Dániel Z Kárpát said rejecting migrant quotas in the constitution would cost far less than holding a referendum. He argued that the outcome of a referendum would be uncertain and a constitutional amendment would mean rejecting migrant quotas at the highest level of the law. He said Jobbik would provide the votes needed to ensure a two-thirds majority in parliament for the amendment.

DK called the referendum “anti-European” and said it was not actually about taking in refugees but rather about terminating Hungary’s European Union membership. Zsolt Gréczy, the party’s spokesman, told a press conference that the “deceptive” referendum aims to convince voters that there is “such a thing as a free lunch” and that Hungary can be a “freeloader” in the EU if it wants to be. Gréczy insisted that this was not an option. “Staying away [from the referendum] is a vote for Europe,” he said. Gréczy said it was “an embarrassment” that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who he said had once supported admitting “millions of migrants” for the sake of advancing growth, now wanted to use the matter of having to take in 1,000 migrants as an excuse to leave the EU.

Együtt said the Kúria’s decision to approve the referendum was unlawful. Party leader Viktor Szigetvári said in a statement that the court’s ruling was “shameful”. He said the prime minister was committing “a historic crime”, insisting that Orbán actually wanted to use the vote as a referendum against Europe. Szigetvári accused Orbán of doing the bidding of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Dialogue for Hungary Party said it acknowledged the Kúria’s decision but insisted that contrary to the top court’s assessment, the referendum concerns Hungary’s international obligations. MEP Benedek Javor said the Kuria’s interpretation of international commitments was too narrow, arguing that regulating migration was a split competency of both EU bodies and member states. Javor also argued that the term “resettlement” was not a legal one, meaning that the referendum question’s phrasing was also unclear.

The Liberal Party said it would turn to the Constitutional Court over the Kúria’s decision. In a statement the party called on the court to protect the institution of the referendum and not to allow a referendum to be held that would only serve the political interests of ruling Fidesz.

May 3, 2016

Unions, left-wing parties voice demands on Labour Day

Budapest, May 1 (MTI) – Hungary’s trade unions called for joint efforts to reduce the vulnerability of workers while opposition parties demanded higher wages for workers on Labour Day on Sunday.

The heads of Hungary’s five trade union confederations said in the City Park that the Labour Code should be revised, a fairer tax system introduced and the minimum wage raised to subsistence level. Representatives of the TU confederations MASZSZ, Liga, ESZT, SZEF and MOSZ placed flowers at a memorial stone erected on the spot where Hungary’s first free Labour Day was celebrated.

The opposition Socialists said the past two years have made it clear that there is a great need for genuine left-wing parties. Party leader József Tóbias said in the City Park that the elections in 2018 could be won if local communities are mobilised. The left wing must not turn a blind eye on the millions living in poverty and in “existential crisis”. Budapest party leader Ágnes Kunhalmi said the government parties will have to give account of their actions in 2018. “I am convinced that they should not only be replaced but also called to account and put behind prison bars,” she said.

Ferenc Gyurcsány, leader of the opposition DK party, said in the City Park that a new democratic government would have to create a Labour Code that strengthens the representation of workers, gives them back the right to go on strike and recognises weekend work with increased bonuses.

The green opposition LMP party demanded a considerably higher wage increase than planned in the public sector. Deputy group leader Erzsébet Schmuck said in the City Park that the government is planning to spend 600 billion forints unnecessarily next year and a much lower amount is allocated for wage increases. LMP will propose amendments to the 2017 budget to ensure that the pay for full-time work should not be less than the subsistence level.

The opposition Együtt party called for a general wage increase and the introduction of a progressive tax system. Party leader Viktor Szigetvári told an event near Parliament that this is a condition for sustainable development and a stronger middle class. He added that the 12th anniversary of Hungary’s EU accession should also be celebrated on this day.

The opposition PM party said that the life of Hungarians is characterised by financial uncertainty and increased vulnerability. Party spokesman Bence Tordai told a Labour Day event that his party demands the introduction of a basic income for low earners. Workers should also be eligible, so the net minimum wage would rise from 74,000 forints a month to 105,000.

Photo: MTI

May 1, 2016

Opposition parties lambast 2017 budget

Budapest, April 26 (MTI) – Hungarian opposition parties slammed the 2017 draft budget submitted on Tuesday by the economy minister.

The opposition Jobbik party said the budget showed the symptoms of “a dried up economy”. Dániel Z Kárpát, the party’s spokesman, told a press conference that the problems of “the previous eight years” should have been corrected over the past six years. Instead, economic policies still depend on foreign capital and multinational companies that fail to serve Hungary’s long-term interests.

He said infrastructure developments were sorely needed as well as more spending on health care, education and job creation. He said the government’s home-building subsidies were only good for helping a privileged few, while Jobbik would introduce state-funded home-leasing programme instead. Jobbik would also lower VAT on basic food, consumption and child-care products to 5 percent or less, he said.

The government’s budget draft seeks to serve the interests of the ruling Fidesz party’s “oligarchs”, Erzsébet Schmuck, deputy group leader of the opposition LMP party said. Noting the government’s recent pledges to balance the chapter of the budget that excludes EU and domestic development funding in 2017, she said “everything is in place for the government to steal as much EU funds as possible”.

Schmuck criticised ruling Fidesz’s economic policy, which she said was not helping to eliminate poverty among workers and was hurting Hungary’s competitiveness. She added that whereas the government had pledged to spend a total 100 billion forints on health care next year, more than two-thirds of that amount will need to go towards settling hospital debt rather than being spent on wage rises in the sector.

Schmuck repeated her party’s criticism of “wasteful” projects such as the construction of sports facilities, the Paks nuclear upgrade and the prime minister’s office relocation to the Buda Castle. She called spending by the National Bank and its foundations “outrageous” and said that the central bank should pay its profits into the central budget.

The opposition Együtt party called next year’s budget bill “self-centred” and “short-sighted”. “There is no other state in the region that spends as much on itself as Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, operating “its apparatus, political propaganda and bureaucracy”, Zsuzsanna Szelenyi said. At the same time, there is no debt reduction, no new investments or real jobs, she insisted.

The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) said that figures in the budget bill show that the country’s real interests are unimportant as far as the “Orban regime” is concerned. After having “ruined doctors, nurses and patients” over the past six years, the government has only become alert to the needs of the health-care sector belatedly, the managing deputy leader of the party said. The extra allocation for health care will not be enough for facility developments, wage increases or the reduction of waiting lists, and will only cover servicing mounting hospital debts, said Csaba Molnar, adding that the sector would need about an additional 500-600 billion forints in central funding. He said DK would boycott the bill’s parliamentary debate and refuse to submit amendments since it regards the government’s economic and social policies wrongheaded.

Economy Minister Mihály Varga announced yesterday that tax cuts, home-building and growth would be in the focus of the 2017 budget, with targeted economic growth next year of 3.1 percent together with a budget deficit of 2.4 percent of GDP. The budget contains a combined 170 billion forints (EUR 545m) of reserves in the National Protection Fund and for “extraordinary government measures”, Varga said.

April 27, 2016

The fifth anniversary of Hungary’s new constitution – Opposition parties blast Hungarian constitution – UPDATE

Budapest, April 25 (MTI) – The leftist opposition Együtt, Dialogue for Hungary (PM) and Liberal parties on Monday slammed Hungary’s constitution, calling it “anti-democratic” and “divisive” and saying there was “nothing to celebrate” about it.

Earlier in the day, current and former government and state officials gathered in Parliament to celebrate the Fundamental Law’s fifth anniversary.

The Együtt party called the Fundamental Law the “constitution of a cold civil war”. Party leader Viktor Szigetvári said in a statement that if a leftist government were to come to power, the constitution would be scrapped immediately. He said Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s defeat in an election would also mean the end of “his regime”.

Szigetvári said a new constitution would not be enough to undo the damage inflicted upon Hungary over the past two and a half decades. Passing a constitution “that does not interfere with people’s lives on an ideological basis” would be an essential starting point in rebuilding Hungary, he said

The PM party said the document embodied “the essence of Orbanism” and called it an “illegitimate heap of paper”. In a statement, the party described the constitution as “anti-democratic, anti-poor … anti-worker, pro-austerity … and discriminating”. They said the ruling Fidesz party had “forced” the constitution onto Hungary in 2011.

The party said the document contained everything for which the Hungarian people “rightfully hate the Orbán regime”, such as “the tearing down of checks and balances”, the “unfair” single-rate personal income tax regime, and the elimination of the social welfare state.

The Liberal Party called the Fundamental Law an “unacceptable, one-party dictate”. Party leader Gábor Fodor said the constitution has undermined the rule of law and for all intents and purposes eliminated checks and balances.

UPDATE

The Socialists said they wanted “a new constitution, a new republic”.

Speaking at a press conference, Socialist vice chair Istvan Hiller said that the Fundamental Law was “Fidesz’s constitution… the basic law for an illiberal state”. He insisted that introduction of the current constitution had removed an equilibrium between the ruling and the opposition parties, and ensured exclusive power for the majority.

“The republic is dead”, Ferenc Gyurcsány, former prime minister and head of the Democratic Coalition (DK), told a demonstration organised by his party.

Those here have not come to celebrate but to mourn the republic, which was “raped, destroyed and finally killed after 22 years”, Gyurcsany said. Those in power have “never meant the country to be a home to all of us, they never thought that the country does not belong to them only but to everybody,” Gyurcsany insisted.

Photo: MTI

April 25, 2016