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11th April, 2024
Magyar hopes to enter elections via Eger-based party
Peter Magyar yesterday joined a little-known, Eger-based party that he may be able to use as a vehicle to enter the European Parliament and municipal elections in June.
Magyar did not wish to reveal the name of the party – Tisza, the Respect and Freedom Party – before the National Election Commission registered it as eligible for the elections, but the Commission published the name on its website yesterday.
The party’s logo already incorporates the Talpra, Magyarok (“Stand up, Hungarians!”) community founded and announced by Magyar on March 15.
Magyar was elected a vice-president of the Tisza party at an EGM yesterday and wrote on Facebook that “we are in the majority in the party’s executive bodies”.
Tisza was registered in 2021, a year before the 2022 parliamentary elections.
Its president, Attila Szabo, affirmed that the party is neither a right- nor a left-wing party, and said its platform combines modern European conservative and social democratic values.
The election commission is next due to meet on Thursday afternoon and may even decide on the party’s eligibility to compete in the elections, 444 notes.
On Facebook, Magyar wrote: “Let’s see how afraid the authorities are and whether they will try to prevent our candidacy with administrative means.”
He added: the June 9 election will be a milestone. If we join hands and stick together, nothing and no one can stop us from taking back our country”.
Magyar did not have time to found a new party before the elections, because the election commission can only register parties as nominating organisations that were already legally registered by March 12. (telex.hu; 444.hu; hvg.hu)
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11th April, 2024
Opposition parties react to Magyar
A recent survey by the pro-government Nezopont Institute gauged the popularity of a hypothetical party led by Peter Magyar at 13%, giving opposition parties reason to fear that they may lose votes to him, 444 reports.
That result puts Magyar in competition with the Democratic Coalition, Socialist and Dialogue alliance, also with 13% support, and ahead of the Two-Tailed Dog Party, at 11%.
The biggest loser is Momentum which would fail to reach the 4% parliamentary threshold, according to the survey.
The Dog Party is basically pleased with the emergence of Magyar. Party director David Nagy told 444 that anything that has such a bad effect on Fidesz is good.
The party does not believe that Magyar will steal the most voters form them among opposition parties, as their voters were drawn to the party by a political initiative organised from grassroots level, contrary to the messianic type of politicians, said Nagy.
However, he considers it conceivable that some who earlier voted for the Dog Party because they were disillusioned with the opposition might vote for Magyar instead.
The Democratic Coalition, ignoring the questions posed by 444, declared that Magyar is a right-wing conservative politician who, according to his own statement, would co-operate even with Fidesz. The statement stressed that the party will never co-operate in any form with Fidesz, nor with politicians who do not rule out co-operation with Fidesz.
Momentum did not give a substantive answer to the question of how Magyar’s popularity might affect the party’s voter base, merely saying that it leaves the topic to analysts.
Magyar enjoys such high popularity because he comes from within the regime, which could encourage others vulnerable to the regime, so Magyar’s attempt to topple the regime might be successful, according to Marton Gyongyosi, president of the Jobbik-Conservatives party. However, he stressed, the important thing is that Magyar harms Fidesz.
Socialist co-president Agnes Kunhalmi said her party’s voter base can see the possible weakening of Fidesz because of Magyar’s political performance and the paedophile scandal. However, she believes that left-wing voters can also see that Magyar is not a left-wing actor but is trying to develop a democratic, conservative group on the right wing.
Mi Hazank president Laszlo Toroczkai said he does not understand why Magyar calls himself a third way, when Mi Hazank represents the third way. It is clear that Magyar is not weakening Fidesz, he added. (444.hu; hvg.hu)
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11th April, 2024
MPs extend state of emergency
MPs voted on Wednesday to extend the state of emergency declared because of the Russia-Ukraine war until November 19.
In practice, this means that the government continues to have the authority to rule by decree and promulgate a number of regulations appearing in Magyar Kozlony at night.
The justification provided for the extension asserts that the war and its effects on Hungary have not changed in the recent past. (magyarnemzet.hu; hirtv.hu; magyarhirlap.hu)
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11th April, 2024
Govt quietly plans expropriation of residential buildings
The government has concealed a plan to expropriate residential buildings in the Eighth District in a “salad bill” containing elements unrelated to one another, submitted to Parliament by Culture and Innovation Minister Janos Csak and deputy prime minister Zsolt Semjen on April 2.
The vast majority of the properties are residential buildings occupied by very poor and needy families, according to the local council.
District mayor Andras Piko says 200 families are in danger of being evicted because of the expropriation, but the local council cannot provide housing for so many people.
The bill states that the space on Dioszegi utca and nearby streets is required to establish a new teacher-training centre for the public service university. Piko says the university leadership with whom they have been in contact for years never told the local council that it needs those areas.
In an open letter on the topic to Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony asked “why is it that your cabinet always shows off your power at the expense of the downtrodden?”
Declaring “Budapest cannot be expropriated, cannot be occupied,” he wrote that the city, Piko and the district’s MP Andras Jambor are ready to resort to all legal and political means to prevent that. (24.hu; hvg.hu; blikk.hu; magyarnarancs.hu; 444.hu)
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11th April, 2024
Lazar announces plan to build new university campus
Construction and Transport Minister Janos Lazar announced plans for the construction of a new campus for the Pazmany Peter Catholic University, on his Facebook page Tuesday evening.
The project to be implemented in the vicinity of the former Magyar Radio building in Budapest’s Eighth District will be carried out in co-ordination with local residents despite the fact that a court rejected their request for an injunction, said Lazar.
The minister said it matters to the government that local residents can say which facades or streets of their neighbourhood should be renewed, whether parking garages or an underground garage should be built or whether even more parks should be established.
The organisation calling itself For a Green Palace Quarter will stage a rally on Pollack Mihaly ter on April 18 in favour of preserving the Magyar Radio buildings and studios. (hirado.hu; telex.hu; infostart.hu; magyarhirlap.hu; magyarnemzet.hu)
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11th April, 2024
Socialist faces bribery charge
Parliament voted yesterday to suspend Socialist MP Zsolt Molnar’s right to immunity from prosecution, as he is accused of influence peddling.
Molnar himself had requested that his right to immunity be waived.
Prosecutors allege that former Socialist MP and cabinet member MP Ferenc Baja demanded Ft 30 million in return for ensuring that a certain company would win a contract to provide IT services to Budapest public transport company BKV in June of 2019.
Molnar allegedly heard about this corrupt arrangement and then asked Baja to demand Ft 40 million from the company and in return he would not challenge the award of the contract.
The company won the contract and Molnar was given more than Ft 40 million on August 6, 2019, prosecutors say.
Molnar denies the accusations. (telex.hu; magyarhirlap.hu; hirtv.hu; magyarnemzet.hu; mandiner.hu; nepszava.hu)
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11th April, 2024
Orban urges Hungarians outside EU to vote in EP election
Prime Minister Viktor Orban is sending letters to Hungarians living outside the EU area who do not have a Hungarian address, informing them that they can vote in the European Parliament elections and encouraging them to avail themselves of that right.
They can vote by mail, but must first register to vote by 4 p.m. on May 15.
According to the website of the National Election Office, 125,000 people have so far indicated that they would vote by mail.
Hungarians who live, study or work abroad and have a Hungarian address must travel home to vote in the June 9 election, or cast their votes at the nearest foreign Hungarian embassy. They must register by May 31.
Orban is not encouraging these people to vote, Telex adds. (telex.hu; 444.hu; blikk.hu; hirado.hu; 24.hu; magyarnemzet.hu)
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