Liberals

Opposition parties hail ‘historic step’ by EP approving Sargentini report

Orbán Sargentini

The European Parliament has made a “historic step” by approving the Sargentini report on Wednesday, opposition Socialist MEP István Újhelyi said.

In a situation like this, in a “normal democracy” the government would voluntarily resign “because of what it has done against Hungary,” he told a press conference in Brussels.

Újhelyi described the decision as convincing, made by a firm majority and spanning over various party families.

Benedek Jávor, an MEP of the opposition Párbeszéd, said the outcome of the vote showed that the majority of the European People’s Party, of which ruling Fidesz is a member, also agreed with the conclusions of the report.

The report criticised the Hungarian government for its actions that violate the interests and rights of the Hungarian people, he added.

“The message to the Hungarian government is clear: undermining and violating basic rights and values cannot go unpunished in Europe.”

According to Jobbik, ruling Fidesz has sacrificed Hungary for its arrogance of power, no-compromise policies and unbridled hunger for money.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has clearly suffered a defeat and the seriousness of the decision is demonstrated by the fact that many members of the European People’s Party, of which Fidesz is a member, and Orbán’s “direct friends and allies” also supported the proposal, Jobbik said in a statement.

“It is immensely shameful for the Fidesz government that no other country had been subjected to such condemnation in the history of the European Union,” the statement added.

Green opposition LMP placed blame squarely on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party for the European Parliament’s approval of the Sargentini report calling for the launch of a sanctions procedure against Hungary.

LMP said in a statement that the report makes “numerous accurate and serious points about the state of the rule of law in Hungary”, adding, however, that only the Hungarian people had the power to “restore the rule of law”.

The party said losing voting rights in the European Council would ultimately hurt Hungary, rather than the government, adding that whether the Article 7 procedure is launched would now be “Viktor Orbán’s responsibility alone”.

LMP noted that its MEP was absent from today’s vote.

“LMP cannot support a procedure that makes the Hungarian people pay for the sins of the government and the prime minister,” they said.

Finally, the Hungarian Liberal Party said on Wednesday that the EP’s approval of the Sargentini report is a win for democracy in Europe. A large majority of MEPs said no to the Orbán government’s illiberal policies, the party said in a statement.

The MEPs have “stood up for European values, the rehabilitation of the rule of law and democracy in Hungary, and the Hungarian people,” the party said. They have also declared that they do not tar with the same brush Hungary and Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s illiberal government, the statement said.

Orbán and his Fidesz party have been dismantling Hungarian democracy and the rule of law for years, endangering in the process the country’s EU membership, they said.

The report authored by Green MEP Judith Sargentini says there is a “clear risk” of a serious breach by Hungary of the values of the European Union and calls for the Article 7 procedure, which ultimately suspends a member state’s voting rights, to be opened.

The report was approved on Wednesday with 448 votes in favour, 197 against and 48 abstentions.

Feaured image: MTI

NVB throws out two referendum initiatives

Daily News Hungary

The National Election Committee (NVB) on Thursday rejected two referendum initiatives, one on making the enforcement of two-thirds laws contingent on the approval of voters in a national referendum. The other concerned legalising cannabis consumption.

The NVB unanimously rejected the first initiative submitted by a private individual on the ground that a successful referendum would entail a constitutional amendment, but the rules on holding referendums forbid this.

It was also united in rejecting the Liberal Party‘s other initiative to decriminalise consumption of marijuana, saying “ownership, purchase, production or any abuse of drugs for personal consumption” are criminal activities under international agreements and Hungary would have to break those accords. This would violate domestic laws.

Appeals of NVH rulings can be made to the Supreme Court within 15 days.

Also on Thursday, the NVB approved a report verifying supporting signatures for a voter initiative seeking the recognition of the Szekler people as an ethnic group independent of the Hungarian nation. The initiative was supported by a total of 1,022 people.

In its official opinion on the bid,

the Hungarian Academy of Sciences said the Szekler people could not be considered an independent ethnic group.

The decision on their recognition as an independent ethnic group will be left up to the Hungarian parliament.

Liberals propose opposition shadow committee to shield NGOs

NGO volunteer civil organisation

The Hungarian Liberal Party has proposed setting up an opposition shadow committee with a view to “protecting” civil groups from the government’s “Stop Soros” law.

Though the opposition is outmatched against the ruling two-thirds majority, “with clever joint action, it can steer Hungarian society back onto a path where people aren’t driven by hate and anger but by common sense,” Anett Bősz, the party’s caretaker leader, told a press conference.

Bősz, who sits in parliament as an independent, invited all opposition parliamentary groups to consult on Tuesday on setting up such a committee.

Asked about the Socialist Party’s leadership election this past weekend, Bősz expressed her hope that the Socialists can start to “truly reinvent themselves”.

Asked about the relationship potential between the Socialist and Liberal parties, she said: “The world of politics isn’t the world of hurt feelings”. Bősz voiced hope that the two parties would be capable of working together in the parliamentary cycle ahead and that they would “come together” in their opposition to the “Stop Soros” bill and the government’s constitutional amendment proposal.

Ruling Fidesz said in response that it was “unbelievable” that the opposition parties were looking out for the “Soros organisations” rather than the Hungarian people.

“The opposition proves time and again that they are mercenaries of Soros,” Fidesz said in a statement.

“The Liberals are still talking about ‘steering’ Hungarians back onto the right path, which obviously means that Hungary should take in migrants. Fidesz believes that it is not the Hungarian people, but rather the Soros network organising illegal migration that needs to be regulated,” the party added. “That is what the Stop Soros package is about.”

Lawmakers are scheduled to vote on the “Stop Soros” package of bills that would criminalise the organisation of illegal migration on Wednesday.

Liberal MP to quit Párbeszéd parliamentary group

Liberals Hungary Bősz

Anett Bősz, a member of the Liberal Party who joined Párbeszéd’s parliamentary group, on Friday announced that she would leave the group and continue as an independent.

House regulations stipulate that a minimum of five MPs are needed to form a parliamentary group. With Bősz’s exit, Párbeszéd’s group will be down to four, and could thereby be disbanded, stripping its members of committee memberships and funding.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Bősz said that

their “political allies have in the past weeks given clear signs of breaching the written and oral agreements with the Liberal party.”

In the past two weeks the allied parties have made it clear that they do not intend to truly cooperate with the Liberals, she said.

Deputy Liberal leader Ádám Sermer said their “alleged partners” have given no guarantees to allow Bősz to represent the liberal agenda in the group. He added, however, that the Liberals still intend to cooperate with the opposition Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance on many counts.

Commenting on the announcement, Párbeszéd group leader Tímea Szabó said that the future of the parliamentary group after Bősz’s exit is “immaterial”. The Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance will “continue to fight to dismantle the Orbán regime”, she said.

Socialist spokesman Bertalan Tóth said that the party “cannot be blackmailed” and will make allowances for money.

Photo: MTi

Election 2018 – Czeglédy withdraws candidacy in favour of Socialist-Párbeszéd candidate

Cezglédy politican Hungary arrested

Csaba Czeglédy, a left-wing politician and fixer who is in pre-trial detention for the suspected misappropriation of public funds, has withdrawn his candidacy in Szombathely for a parliamentary seat in favour of the candidate of the Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance.

Czeglédy was approved as an independent MP candidate in March and became eligible for immunity. However, his immunity was later lifted by the National Election Committee (NVB), and a Szeged court ordered that he be placed back into pre-trial detention.

He appealed to the Kúria, Hungary’s supreme court, over that ruling, but his appeal was rejected. Czeglédy also submitted a complaint to the Constitutional Court, which ruled that the NVB’s decision to strip him of his immunity was in line with the constitution.

Czeglédy’s decision to withdraw his candidacy was announced on Wednesday at a press conference by György Ipkovich, the former Socialist mayor of Szombathely.

Czeglédy has called on his supporters to vote for Socialist-Párbeszéd candidate András Nemény, who is also backed by the Democratic Coalition and the Hungarian Liberal Party.

“It is a fact that by stomping on the principle of the rule of law, [ruling] Fidesz prevented me from participating in the campaign in a meaningful way, depriving the local residents of the opportunity to choose,” Czeglédy wrote in a letter published by, among others, news portal Nyugat.hu. “It is an unprecedented crime since Hungary’s democratic transition . for a ruling party to use its power to debase the voting rights of an opposition candidate and their supporters.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the Szeged district court decided to extend Czeglédy’s pre-trial detention by three months. Czeglédy’s attorney has appealed the decision.

featured image: MTI

Liberals want two-day election for Hungarians abroad

The Hungarian Liberal Party will submit a request to the justice minister on giving Hungarians living abroad two days to cast their votes in the spring general election, the party’s deputy leader said on Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference, Ádám Sermer said voters abroad should be given the entire weekend of April 8 to vote, arguing that not all of them would have time to go to a foreign mission on election day.

Under the current election rules, Hungarians who have a permanent address in the country but are abroad on the day of an election or referendum

can only vote at a Hungarian embassy or consular office near them, while ethnic Hungarians living beyond the border can vote by mail.

Sermer noted that his party had already turned to President János Áder in connection with making it easier for Hungarians abroad to vote and the Liberal Party had initiated setting up temporary polling places in 25 European cities.

Sermer said the president had forwarded that request to Justice Minister László Trócsányi.

Featured image: MTI

Opposition parties slam reported government plans to gut local council system

Daily News Hungary

Opposition parties on Tuesday spoke out against reported plans by the government to do away with Hungary’s local councils after the spring election.

Gergely Karácsony, the PM candidate of Párbeszéd and the Socialist Party, told a press conference that he had personally seen proposals for the abolishment of Budapest‘s districts. Karácsony said Budapest Mayor István Tarlós himself had confirmed the existence of such plans.

He said one of the things at stake in the upcoming general election would be the right of voters to elect their local leaders. Citing recent reports, Karácsony said citizens could lose this right after the election.

The past eight years have been about the government “cutting back the powers of local councils”,

Karácsony said. “But it looks like Fidesz wants to deal the final blow to the local council system after the election,” he added.

Liberal Party leader Gábor Fodor told the same press conference that according to recent press reports, ruling Fidesz was preparing to strip local councils of their autonomy and have them be controlled by the government.

Gyula Molnár, leader of the Socialist Party, called on Fidesz to reveal what it plans to do with local governments if it wins re-election.

Fidesz responded by saying that the opposition parties were “speaking nonsense”. “Nothing from what the opposition said today is true, and saying it was a waste of time,” the ruling party said.

Liberals call on government to take heed of student demands

In the wake of a student demonstration last week, the Liberal Party has called on the government to start talks with student unions on reforming Hungary’s education system.

Anett Bősz, a senior Liberal Party official, called on the minister of human resources and the state secretary for education to take heed of the messages of some 1,800 students gathered near Parliament on Friday, demanding a “fairer, more democratic and student-centered education system”.

Bősz said that the Independent Student Parliament has drafted a package of proposals for reform.

The proposals serve as a good basis for creating new student-oriented modes of teaching, Bősz added.

Hungary currently lacks the institutional system and conditions to meet the criteria for a 21st century education, she said, adding that over the past years Hungarian students had performed poorly in international PISA education tests that, for example, gauge creativity in problem-solving.

featured image: MTI

Liberals urge compromise over ‘party district’ opening hours

The Liberal Party has proposed a compromise between local residents, catering businesses in Budapest’s 7th district and the municipality, concerning the opening hours of bars and pubs in the district’s contested “party zone”.

Viktor Szabadai, the head of the Liberals’ Budapest board, urged locals to vote in an upcoming referendum against rules under which bars would be closed after midnight, in the interest of a “sensible compromise”.

Szabadai suggested that the city of Budapest, which collects the business tax from the bars and restaurants, should return a larger share of the funds to the district than it does now.

The Liberals have also asked the district mayor to urge pubs and bars to have their rooms sound isolated, as well as to facilitate rehousing for locals in municipally owned units.

At the local referendum set for February 18, citizens will vote whether the pubs and clubs in the “party” area should close between midnight and 6 am. The measure would impact around 400-500 venues, including many of the city’s popular “ruin pubs”. The noise of party-goers and the extended opening hours have been a subject of a long-standing feud between residents, apartment leasers and club owners.

Featured image: www.facebook.com/szimplakert

Opposition DK refuses to pay Audit Office fine

The leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) party has refused to pay a 16 million forint (EUR 52,000) fine imposed by the State Audit Office (ÁSZ), the party’s deputy head told the press on Monday.

The ÁSZ decision said that the party has rented offices under market value, Csaba Molnár said. The decision has neglected “to name at least the offices in question”, he said.

According to Molnár, it has been “proven” that

the ÁSZ “acts upon orders by ruling Fidesz” and “levies fines on one opposition party after another”.

It is a way “to strip these parties of chunks of their state funding” months before the election, he said.

DK has notified the audit office of their decision in a letter, and said it “will not pay a farthing” of the “unlawful” fine. DK will also appeal to EU institutions regarding the issue, Molnar added. Should DK be elected to government, ÁSZ leader László Domokos “and his cronies” will have to answer for their actions before court, he said.

Late in December, ÁSZ sent draft reports of scheduled audits pertaining to 2015-2016 to six opposition parties.

According to the draft reports, Jobbik would be fined to 660 million forints, green LMP and DK to 16 million each, and the Liberals to 10 million forints. Jobbik has launched a crowdfunding campaign among its base, and the liberals announced to turn to EU institutions over the matter.

As we wrote december, the opposition Jobbik party held a demonstration to protest against what it called “the evolving dictatorial regime” of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the State Audit Office’s (ÁSZ) recent effort “to sideline the party”. Read more HERE.

Leftist opposition: A “gentle and soft-spoken” government at stake at next year’s election

Voters next year will get to decide whether they want a “gentle and soft-spoken” government instead of one that works to create enemies and conflicts in society, Gergely Karácsony, joint prime ministerial candidate of the opposition Socialists, the Liberal Party and Párbeszéd, said on Friday.

Politics should be about the peaceful everyday lives of voters and governing about “small clever steps” that “steer Hungary back towards Europe”, the Párbeszéd co-leader told a press conference he held jointly with the leaders of the other two parties.

Karácsony said that if he became prime minister, his government would “create a world” in which politics is not about “constant fighting and seeing everyone as an enemy”.

He said the three parties he represents consider it their duty to make politics to be about a good education system and quality health care, as well as higher wages and pensions.

“Our job is to establish peace, first within the opposition base and then for the country as a whole,” he said.

Karácsony said the opposition parties that have joined forces would hold out hope until the end that other opposition parties will join them. “We’ll keep the door open for other parties and communities until the last minute,” he said.

Karácsony said he would not withdraw from PM candidacy even if not all opposition parties join forces for the 2018 spring election.

Ágnes Kunhalmi, leader of the Socialists’ Budapest chapter, said the opposition parties would be doomed to failure if they fight separately in the election but have a chance of victory if they join forces.

Next spring Hungarians will be given a chance to “chase out their tyrants” and send the message to Europe that “they are not a quarrelsome people full of hatred but a peace-loving one that would like to cooperate with it.”

Socialist leader Gyula Molnár said the party’s national list for the 2018 election would be topped by Karácsony.

Featured image: MTI

Audit office sends audit draft reports to six Hungarian parties

Daily News Hungary

Six of Hungary’s political parties whose audits pertaining to 2015-2016 were scheduled for the second half of this year have received the draft reports on their audits, the State Audit Office (ÁSZ) said on Thursday.

The parties in question — LMP, the Democratic Coalition, the Socialist Party, the Hungarian Liberal Party, Együtt and Párbeszéd — have fifteen days to make any remarks about the draft reports before the final reports are published, ÁSZ said.

Jobbik’s audit was also scheduled for the second half of this year, while those of the ruling and co-ruling Fidesz and Christian Democrat parties were not.

ASZ noted in a statement that regulations on illegal party financing changed on January 1, 2014.

Under these regulations, it is against the law for parties to accept donations from legal entities, entities without legal personality, other states, foreign organisations and legal entities who are not Hungarian citizens.

It is also illegal for parties to make use of services at below market prices. These include the use of billboards, renting property or accounting services.

ÁSZ’s statement comes after several opposition parties that were audited in December objected to the office’s draft report on their financing and potential fines indicated in them.

Earlier this month, ASZ issued a report indicating that Jobbik would have to pay a 660 million forint (EUR 2.1m) fine for alleged party financing violations.

In the spring, the party ran an anti-government poster campaign. The audit office conducted a financial investigation of the campaign, determining that Jobbik had received a sweetheart deal worth some 330 million forints in violation of the rules in force. It ordered the party to pay a penalty of double this amount.

Jobbik has launched a crowdfunding campaign to pay the potential fine. Last Friday, the party held a demonstration at Fidesz’s headquarters to protest against what it called “the evolving dictatorial regime” of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and ASZ’s effort “to sideline the party”.

Green opposition LMP also slammed the draft report it had received as “unbelievable”.

In the report, ASZ indicated that the party would have to be fined a total of 16 million forints for allegedly paying too little rent for its headquarters, LMP co-leader Ákos Hadházy said.

Although such a fine would not crush LMP, it is still a hefty fine, Hadházy said, suggesting that the procedure was only meant to give the impression in the media that LMP had grossly violated party financing laws.

Hadházy said this was the first time ASZ had raised any issue with the rent LMP pays for the property. He said the party had been renting the same 260 sqm apartment in Budapest’s 13th district for 400,000 forints a month since 2012.

“It seems that everything is fine with Fidesz, but LMP is one of the biggest obstacles to democracy,” Hadházy said.

Opposition parties to launch signature drive for metro line 3 accessibility

Nine opposition parties have joined forces to launch a signature drive for holding a local referendum on ensuring the wheelchair accessibility of stations on Budapest’s third metro line, a Socialist Party city councillor said on Wednesday.

Csaba Horváth, who initiated a local referendum on ensuring the accessibility of metro line 3 in mid-November, noted that the parties involved in the signature drive will have 30 days to collect 138,000 valid signatures from Budapest residents. He said the signature drive for the referendum, which the Budapest Election Committee approved earlier this month, could begin on Jan. 3 once all time limits for appeals have expired.

Horváth said the total cost of ensuring the metro line’s accessibility could be around 20 billion forints (EUR 63.8m), which he said was the equivalent of what Budapest residents pay in taxes in a single day.

The opposition Democratic Coalition, the Liberal Party, LMP, the Modern Hungary Movement, Párbeszéd, Együtt, Momentum and the Hungarian Solidarity Movement will join the Socialists in the signature drive.

Horváth’s referendum question reads: “Do you support ensuring the full accessibility of all stations of the M3 metro line during its upgrade in 2017-2020 in line with the provisions prescribed in Section 2 (1) of Act LXXVIII of 1997?”

Budapest deputy mayor Gábor Bagdy said in a statement that the Budapest municipal council was not blocking a referendum on the matter. Ensuring accessibility on the metro line is not a matter of empathy or intent, but rather a question of money, the deputy mayor said.

Bagdy said Horváth had submitted a “hastily-worded” referendum question, arguing that the upgrade of the metro line was in line with the provisions prescribed by law. Therefore the objective of the question he had submitted could be carried out even without a referendum, the deputy mayor said.

Ruling Fidesz reacted by saying that the opposition’s referendum initiative “has no credibility whatsoever”, arguing that

the capital’s former Socialist and liberal leadership had “allowed the third metro line to rot away during their tenure in power”.

“Csaba Horváth and company did not even lift a finger to ensure the safety of Budapest residents on public transportation back then,” Fidesz said in a statement. “Not only did they fail to consider accessibility, but the entire third metro line could have broken down for all they cared.”

Liberals to turn to top court over Pécs assembly’s ‘anti-NGO’ declaration

The opposition Liberal Party is turning to the Constitutional Court and the ombudsman for fundamental rights over a declaration adopted by the municipal assembly of Pécs last week protesting the establishment of a “Soros campaign centre” in the southern Hungarian city, the party’s leader said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference, Gábor Fodor also slammed a letter Kaposvár mayor Károly Szita had sent to his colleagues, “urging them to resist US financier George Soros’s opening offices for NGOs in various cities across Hungary”.

If there is a clampdown on civil groups, it will result in weakened democratic controls, Fodor said, objecting to what he saw as efforts to demonise Soros.

Ruling Fidesz reacted by saying that the Liberals “are again standing up for George Soros”. In a statement, the party said Fodor was “one of the opposition politicians who have been attacking the government’s migration policy from the beginning”. Hungarian cities and towns are rightfully wary of the “Soros network” and its “pro-migrant policies”, Fidesz said, arguing that “wherever migrants have shown up in Europe, everyday security was gone”.

Karácsony says PM candidacy conditional on common opposition national list

Gergely Karácsony, co-leader of the small liberal Párbeszéd (Dialogue) party, has said he would only stay on as the left’s joint PM candidate if the left-wing parties draw up a common national list for next spring’s general election.

Speaking at a press event on Monday, Karácsony said he had not come up with a “back-up plan” for the election, because he expects the leftist parties to join forces by February. He added that he was willing to wait for the Ferenc Gyurcsány-led Democratic Coalition (DK) to join the leftist opposition campaign “until the last minute”.

Karácsony said that

recently certain opposition parties had begun to “let the 2018 election go”.

For these parties, the primary concern is not whether the opposition could turn the election around, Karacsony said. Neither are they interested in the potential size of Fidesz’s majority if the ruling party remains in power, he added. Instead, these parties have started thinking about who among them “can get back up again” after yet another election defeat, he said.

Karácsony, the mayor of Budapest’s 14th district, said his party, on the other hand, believes that it is wrong to give up on 2018. He argued that there were so many undecided voters that opposition might even have a shot at winning and advised against declaring the election a lost cause.

The Párbeszéd co-leader voiced disagreement with the opposition parties settling for coordinating their candidates in individual constituencies. If the opposition opts for this strategy, there would be six leftist opposition party lists, of which three or four would not clear the 5 percent threshold for parliamentary representation, he said. As a result, many votes for party lists would go to waste and the opposition would also lose many individual constituencies, he argued.

Cooperation between the opposition parties does not guarantee victory, but it is necessary, he said.

The opposition Socialist Party, Párbeszéd and the Liberal Party support drawing up a common national list but DK and Együtt do not, he noted.

But since candidates do not officially have to be nominated until February, the parties do not make a decision on this at this time, he said.

Karácsony said DK had a political interest in running a stand-alone party list, arguing that the party considered the election a “qualifying session”. But at the same time, their voters are the strongest supporters of a joint opposition list, so the matter is not yet settled, he added. Karacsony said the opposition parties should wait “until the last minute” for DK, arguing that if the party feels that it is in its political interest to join the cooperation, it will.

Karacsony said he was also hopeful of Együtt joining the other parties, adding, however, that he believed they were less likely to join than DK.

If the leftist opposition parties fail to join forces, then they have to rethink the entire election,

Karácsony said.

“I will only be a candidate for prime minister if [we] run a common national list,” he said. “I’m not needed for a list that says ‘Hungarian Socialist Party’.”

But if the opposition corrects its election strategy, then the election can be won, Karácsony said.

He said Jobbik’s slide in the polls was a key opportunity for the left. If the polling is close, leftists are prone to voting for Jobbik, but the opposite is also true, Karácsony said.

The opposition’s voter block is changing, Karácsony said, arguing that party loyalty was taking a back seat to the objective of defeating Fidesz.

Photo: MTI

Ministry denies reports of holiday meal distribution restrictions

The human resources ministry on Tuesday denied press reports that the government plans to restrict the distribution of hot meals to poor people over the holiday season, saying that it planned on expanding opportunities for such events.

Citing press reports on Monday, the Hungarian Liberal Party said in a statement that “the government is planning to ban civil groups from distributing meals” to the poor.

The human resources ministry said reports that the government was preparing to pass a decree tightening legal regulations on meal distribution, to allow only state, local government, and church-funded organisations to distribute hot meals, were incorrect.

Contrary to those reports,

the government has earmarked “an unprecedented” 34 billion forints (EUR 109.2m) towards food distribution programmes for the homeless, elderly, the disabled and poor families with young children, the ministry said.

It noted that in 2016, soup kitchens handed out an average of more than 85,000 meals a day. Under a 4 billion forint programme launched last December, some 4,000 homeless people will receive one hot meal every weekday over a period of four years, the ministry added. In addition, homeless people have access to soup kitchens at 86 locations, they said.

The Párbeszéd (Dialogue) party also commented on the reports and accused the government of trying to “hide poverty” in Hungary by barring NGOs and political parties from distributing meals. Speaking at a press conference ahead of a food distribution event, Párbeszéd board member Márta Naszályi called the draft decree that had appeared in the press “inhumane and outrageous”. She said

food distribution events were “silent protests” against the “mendacious government propaganda that claims that all is well in Hungary”.

Last Thursday, the leftist opposition Democratic Coalition protested a proposal submitted to the Debrecen municipal council under which charity activities such as food distribution that are carried out in public spaces would be hit with a 35 forints per-square-metre fee. DK said it had submitted an amendment proposal aimed at scrapping the measure in question, but it was voted down by the city assembly.

featured image: MTI, illustration

Socialists vow to agree with other opposition parties on entering joint candidates in 2018 election

Daily News Hungary

The Socialist Party is determined to reach agreement with its political partners ahead of next year’s general election, the party’s chairman, Gyula Molnár, told a conference on Saturday.

The party will prepare an agreement by Christmas, Molnár said at a joint event of the Party of European Socialists and the women’s section of the Socialist Party which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Cross-party cooperation will lead to an election victory only if the opposition parties manage to agree on joint candidates and a joint challenger for prime minister, Molnár said, adding that

they must attract new voters rather than relying on “redistributing what we’ve already got”. 

The goal of the Socialists is not to replace the rest of the opposition but to replace the government. He added, however, that it would be impossible for the rest of the opposition “to replace this government without the Socialist Party”.

At an event attended by the major leftist and liberal parties on Saturday, it was stated that there was “hardly a public policy issue on which the opposition does not agree”. At the assembly of the Country for All Movement, in which the participants included the Democratic Coalition, the Hungarian Liberal Party, the Socialists, the Modern Hungary Movement and Párbeszéd,

a declaration was issued stating that the parties must cooperate and work towards a change of political system. 

At the event entitled “Change and Justice in 2018”, opposition politicians, representatives of civil society and activists spoke about the need for electoral reform, freedom of the press, and fresh approaches to education, health, housing and the rule of law.

Will Viktor Orbán be reelected in 2018? – Poll

As the 2018 general election is approaching, more and more research institutes publish the results of their polls. According to the most recent one by the Nézőpont Institue, fully 47 percent, close to 3.9 million Hungarian voters, would favour to see Viktor Orbán, the incumbent prime minister, retain his post, if the elections were held now.

Eight percent of respondents asked between November 2 and 6 said they would prefer to see Gábor Vona, the leader of radical nationalist Jobbik, as prime minister after the 2018 general election.

Bernadett Szél, the prime minister candidate of green opposition LMP, was supported by 6 percent and Ferenc Gyurcsány, a former Socialist premier and now leader of the leftist opposition Democratic Coalition (DK), by 5 percent.

Gergely Karácsony, co-leader of the opposition Párbeszéd (Dialogue) party, was supported for prime minister by 4 percent. Gábor Fodor of the Liberals were backed by 2 percent of voters, and András Fekete-Győr of the Momentum Movement by one percent, the poll showed.

Featued image: MTI