Hungarian News

The State vs. The Opposition

• February 12, 2022
• István
• 13 Comments

The campaign started. Officially, it is 50 days before the end of the elections. Today is the day candidates and parties may start to collect signatures for running. This would be only a technical date, but since today parties also may campaign. What did we see during the last weeks and months? Interviews, press conferences, billboards of the state and foundations, but no rallies of parties, no TV spots of parties, no advertisement of parties and so on, this is forbidden by an Orbán law and narrowly followed by the FIDESZ soldiers in the authorities for punishing every party that might break this law. In this context it has been practical that Péter Márki-Zay’s MMM is a foundation and no party, however, Gergely Karácsony started his own foundation as well last year, just to avoid illegal acting. Of course we will see increasingly the “governmental information” how great Hungary is doing and also the state funded CÖF spots that were banned from Youtube ►EN have been replaced by others without breaching the copyright of Warner Bros. in the “Stop Gyurcsány – stop Karácsony” style from last summer.

Media may choose whether they want to publish or not to publish campaign advertisement. If they do, they must offer space at same conditions. The media owned by the FIDESZ controlled KESMA foundation and he regime outlet Mediaworks have declared that they all won’t accept advertisements for the elections, but they do for the anti-gay referendum ►HU. The 1st advert I saw shows a young woman with a child in her arms looking into the camera with the text “Let’s protect the children” ►picture. While we are talking about the topic referendum: The only application for a referendum that offers alternatives and in opposite to the anti-gay referendum can be put into national law (the only legal background of a referendum) is still stuck with counting signatures in the electoral office. Orbán’s propaganda referendum was ordered in a fastened procedure to avoid that it was discussed in parliament.

Yesterday evening in Pécs Unity for Hungary held its campaign start with a rally on the central Széchenyi tér. After a few words of introduction from the mayor of Pécs Attila Péterffy (local Mindenki Pécsért Egyesület) Klára Dobrev (DK) spoke and her message was clearly about the key of winning in a rigged system: Unity. Her wish is that this year with Christmas families come together and are no longer afraid of talking about politics. Politics would be about how to improve health care or education, but not about how to enrich further István Tiborcz or Lőrinc Mészáros.

Next speaker was László Szakács (MSZP,) who pointed out that the central government has punished Pécs for voting on the “wrong” candidates and has taken away the means to maintain the former meaning of Pécs and it’s region as centre of cultural life and prosperity. He asked, why the citizens of Pécs should be treated worse than those of Győr or Debrecen. Why are taxes taken away from the citizens of Pécs to build streets, footpaths and in worst case a stadium elsewhere but not in Pécs? For a democratic decision?

Szakács is candidate for Unity for Hungary in the district Baranya 2, which contains parts of the city of Pécs, the city of Komló and rural areas, he is running against Péter Hoppál (FIDESZ.) This seat is easy to win, because the parties of Unity for Hungary had many more votes since the creation of the seat and Hoppál won with 40.11 and 36.27 % of the votes only, while the parties of today’s Unity for Hungary together got 56.48 and 60.22 % for their candidates combined.

Tamás Mellár (elected in 2018 as independent MP, now P) spoke about the need of a regime change. While this term is connected to 1989 / 90 he pointed out that this needs to be done again, since the Orbán regime has so many similarities to the communist regime that the state is no longer based on the success of 1989 / 90. He went into detail with examples how much the similarities are and that we must get independent from Moscow again and mustn’t be sold to the Chinese Communist Party. He is Professor for economy, was adviser of PM Antall, head of KSH (Office for Statistics,) and member of the academy of science.

Mellár is candidate for Unity for Hungary in the district Baranya 1, which is most of Pécs and a few villages in the surrounding. Mellár defeated in 2018 Péter Csizi (FIDESZ,) who won this seat in 2014. Baranya 1 is a safe harbour for Unity for Hungary as well, since FIDESZ won in 2014 only with 37.19 %, while the candidates of Unity got 60.61 and 58.33 % combined.

Péter Márki-Zay told that he feels that Hungarians are waiting for a regime change. In a few words he put his fingers into the open wounds of the Orbán regime from health care over education to corruption, that Hungary is now racing for being the poorest, most corrupt and since corona is the most deadly country in Europe. He reminded that the opposition doesn’t get access to the with public money run “public media” and which did not even tell a word about the primaries held last year. The “public media” gave him not a single time the word as being candidate for the office as prime minister, that time is reserved to Orbán only.

MZP got laughter when he told that we have right now a PM with little money only, so he said that he would be as well. Further talking about himself he felt that Hungary got back on the tracks of a one party state. The most corrupt party state in a 1000 years history. Márki-Zay wants to repeat what he calls the miracle of Hódmezővásárhely, where he was elected in a supposedly FIDESZ-owned town with as much as 57 %. The regular 2019 local elections he had the same crosswinds from the central state as he feels now in the general elections. MZP was called Soros agent, Gyurcsány frontman, Gypsy friend, migrant settler, and so on already those days. None of the polling institutes saw him winning again. And the miracle repeated, he got 57 % again, even with 500 more votes than in the by-elections he came into office with. Not only that, the opposition got 9 out of 10 seats in the city council. And as outsider without party affiliation he won the primaries, again with 57 %. Péter Márki-Zay called the people to repeat the miracle on April 3rd: “It is only depending on you!”

There was a list of questions given to the candidate. The 1st was about deputies being “voting machines.” MZP clearly said no, the 133 “brave men” of Orbán would be used as such, they would not represent their voters, but the interests of Orbán only. He expects deputies representing the people of their constituency, not a gang of thieves.

The next was about party affiliation of the ministers. The answer was that knowledge would count. Only knowledge. Even Orbán understood this, so the minister who is officially in charge for health care and education none of both can handle, so the health care is practically run by the department of interior, the purchase of ventilators or vaccines by the foreign ministry, while these unfit as well.

The 3rd question was about lost local government income through the centralisation of taxes, which only was refunded to local FIDESZ governments by the national government. MZP promised to compensate for missed income and that thereafter he would care for all local governments the same, regardless the party affiliation of the mayor. He gave as example what the Orbán regime did on the night of December 24th, 2020, a time the thieves like to work at, he said. All FIDESZ ruled county seats got 1.4 billion Forint (nearly 4 million Euro) compensation – but none of the other ones.

Another citizen wanted to know about a minimum and maximum pension. Since he believes in the market economy he is against maximising, but is for a social leg to stay on. He didn’t mention an amount how much the minimum pension would raise from, but that this definitely would be way above today’s 28 500 Ft (80 €,) it would be an amount one doesn’t starve with.

The next question was, whether it would be normal that for a decade a PM can’t be asked anything at all. Márki-Zay doesn’t think that this would be normal, as well as it isn’t normal that a PM is refusing a debate. A PM who is afraid to talk about the facts, what the elections are about, and if the PM is trying to prohibit Hungary becoming the poorest country of the EU by leaving the Union.

Is it possible to turn FIDESZ voters? MZP said he would be convinced that this would be possible, since he voted for FIDESZ in the past and for sure many in the Széchenyi tér would have voted for FIDESZ before as well, he said. His own father in law had difficulties whether further to support FIDESZ, as he did before, or his son in law. He decided not to vote, until he saw how Zsolt Bayer, FIDESZ member of 1st hour and perhaps the most hateful regime propagandist, cracked down MZP on TV. At that moment the father in law understood “they are lying!” Márki-Zay replied, that they always lied, just that this was the 1st time he knew the slandered politician in person.

The 7th question was, if MZP would win, would Hungary take over Romania? Márki-Zay answered that the professor (Mellár) agrees, and that he would work for that. Just that this would never happen if Orbán would win the elections and that in that case even Bulgaria would take over Hungary. He took this as opportunity to call for uncovering every crime, just as uncovering the communist observation, agents, and informants files, FIDESZ as only party still wants to keep secret. That Hungary should join EPPO, the European Public Prosecutor Office, that just “switched off” a politician from nearby Croatia, who not long ago posed with János Lázár in front of the press cameras, EPPO lead by the Romanian prosecutor who brought more than 100 corrupt top politicians in jail already.

Further a citizen wanted to hear a statement why the top names on the common party list of Unity for Hungary would not take their seats in parliament. Klára Dobrev (DK) wants to continue her work in the EP, Gergely Karácsony (P) to stay lord mayor of Budapest. As important figures of the opposition, as former candidates during the primaries for the office of PM, they would help the common aim this way.

9th question was about his view onto the regime’s “Mini Feri” campaign. It would be the difference between love and hate as everywhere in the society. He pledges for equal citizens, no discrimination of races, colour of skin, sexual orientation, or believes, not to attack those who are disadvantaged, but to help them. In opposite to this a campaign would be run with the pictures of a just 81 cm grown actor, who has committed suicide with 49 years, exactly the age MZP has right now, a pure hate campaign the regime does not even paid the royalties for. Hate and lies against his wish to create an accepting country.

As last: How to get the undecided to vote on Unity for Hungary. Péter Márki-Zay admitted that it would be difficult to convince the hard core FIDESZ voters, but it would be easier to convince the undecided. It would be in 1st instance the success of the people to convince them. Talk about the positive news within the opposition, for example that Jobbik this week took a Roma activist onto their party list. You are the miracle, you can realise the miracle, MZP told the audience.

At the end the camera went onto the spectators ►HU. People on Széchenyi tér stood pretty close, many were young, but people of all ages were shown. In light of this the title might be the state vs. the people as well.