Some foreign media compares Hungary to Ukraine, while Hungarian media criticize the skills and performance and often the objectives of the speakers and organizers of last months protests. Main speaker, Zsolt Várady retreats behind the desktop to dos his job. So will the New Year bring New Hungary, like last Friday speakers in front of the Opera wish?
The main objective of the new social initiative MostMI (NOW WE) is, to explore the real issues of Hungarian society and propose real, long term solutions, redefining the role of politics and building up a new country, another Hungary.
Keep calm and do the job! -Várady retreats
One of the main figures of recent demonstration is Zsolt Várady, and first speaker of last Friday evening is the founder of the discontinued Hungarian social networking site iWiW. He started a fight for the improvement of taxing morale in Hungary. October the 10th, he sued all Hungarian parties that ever got in Parliament since the change of regime in Hungary in 1990, accusing them by having established a system of taxation where “it is impossible to run a business without becoming a tax avoider and tax cheater” and starting a business equals a suicide.
He is also co-founder of the social initiative MostMi organizing today’s demonstration in front of the beautiful neo-renaissance building of The Hungarian State Opera House.
This Sunday, however, he announced on his facebook page that due to time constraints he stops being an organizer of MostMi events and limits his supporting activity to the construction of the new social media website that is aimed to galvanize civil self-organization.
He emphasize that his decision is not a result of the the critics and has not been made on political pressure.
Sins and lies from both sides have been destroying trust in politics for more than a decade.
Most obvious symptoms of it is the lack of transparency in political parties funding and the undisclosed list of former communist agents have been the debts of Hungarian politics for a longtime. This is only the beginning of the list. This last longterm issue was mentioned on the protest of the 2nd of January beside others like housing problems and lack of real participation in social activities.
Those two seems rather typically left wing subject, but critical voices can be heard from both sides.
Even some of the right wing media seems to be concerned by the Hungarian government's recent plans and actions,
Recently Zoltan Pokorni, a former Fidesz president and education minister made a critical remark on Fidesz leaders “flamboyant lifestyle”, that got quite a wide publicity in Hungarian media.
Governor party Fidesz has lost around a million voters.
Polls showed, even those of the Fidesz close Századvég Institute, that the governor Fidesz has a record loss of popularity in November 2014.
Fidesz leaders personal popularity dropped
PM Orban faces a very drastic loss, his popularity dropped from 48 to 32%, he lost 16 points, far more than any other politician.
Followed by his Chief of Office, JánosLázár, who was already among the less popular with 34%, now losing 14 points. However they are not the only ones to see themselves losing such an impressive number of sympathisants. Péter Szíjjártó, former State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations of the Prime Minister’s Office, and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade since 23 September 2014, replacing Tibor Navrasics, recently named European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, as well as the President János Áder and Minister of Economics, Mihály Varga lost all 10-13 points. Known for his bill banning homeless people living in the streets, Budapest Mayor, István Tarlós popularity dropped from 42 to 29%, however sacking a young and ambitious and rather successful CEO of BKK Centre for Budapest Transport, Dávid Vitézy, recently cannot yet affect his score. Nor the very recent idea of change the Budapest bypass M0 into a partial toll road from January 2015.
Hungarian ballots
There is an increasing number of undecided or silent voters who would rather give a white vote if there was such an option, as they cannot find a party that would represent their views, values and interests. The left seems unable to strengthen on a long term.
Hungarians helding the protests of last couple of month judge : exclusionary policies, destruction of the educational system, corruption and diplomatic scandals of the tax authorities, large scale corruption and lies, conditions of the national health care and housing system.
However social responsibility concerns did not seem to be enough hards to make turn the plate and get Victor Orban and his party Fidesz lose the last election spring 2014. Indeed his party got for a second time the supermajority and can now push really hard the lawmaking. But unattractiveness of the left parties, who are though present on last month demonstrations, was not the only explanation. A change in the electoral law prior to the elections let them win the supermajority (⅔ of seats) while less than half of the voters chose them. Moreover they integrated the Party of Christian Democrats who got important ministries while the party has no real support in the Hungarian society. ....
Budapest streetview of last couple of months
On 17th of November
people of Budapest launched their call, and showed the blue light of their phones, to protest against the internet tax, the high level of corruption, general overtaxation and the current foreign policy of Hungary, protesting for more transparency, freedom, responsible governing and the declaration of a Hungary belonging to the European Union. The event was named “We Won’t Shut Up”.
Hungarians across Europe supported that event of Budapest, helding “Day of Public Outrage” protest in big cities like Berlin , Hamburg, Bristol, London, Luxembourg, Bruxelles, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Helsinki and smaller ones like the Danish Randers, the Scottish Oban, the Austrian Kitzbuhel and in Maltese Valetta
Most obvious symptoms of it is the lack of transparency in political parties funding and the undisclosed list of former communist agents have been the debts of Hungarian politics for a longtime. This is only the beginning of the list. This last longterm issue was mentioned on the protest of the 2nd of January beside others like housing problems and lack of real participation in social activities.
Those two seems rather typically left wing subject, but critical voices can be heard from both sides.
Even some of the right wing media seems to be concerned by the Hungarian government's recent plans and actions,
such as the internet tax, prohibition of Sunday shopping and mandatory drug test for teenagers between 12 and 18, politicians and journalist. Valasz.hu judges that with these restrictively educative attitude governor party Fidesz has now lost the chance to reach out to the generation born after the change of the regime in Hungary, in 1990.
Governor party Fidesz has lost around a million voters.
The first poll made between 1st and 7th of November by Nézőpont Institute measured that popularity of governor party slightly fell among voting age population from 32 to 29% (3 points) and among decided voters from 45 to 40%. According a second poll by Szonda-Ipsos group, made a week later, between 10th and 17th, Fidesz popularity among voting age population fell from 35% to 30%, (5 points) among decided voters from 55 to 48%. A third poll, made by Tárki Insitute between 13th and 23rd, showed these Fidesz figures shrunk from 37 to 25% (12 points) and from 55 to 45%. The poll made between 28th of November and 2nd of December, that Median Institute published showed a fall from 38%, measured before the idea of internet tax, to 26% (12 points) among voting age population and from 57 to 34% among potential voters. The other scandal affecting the figures was the diplomatic crisis with the United States. Ildiko Vida, the head of the Hungarian tax authority is on the list of the six Hungarian officials who have been banned from entering the United States on suspicions of corruption. Those two last news would mean a 900,000 possibly vote lost, according to Median. Fidesz-close Századvég measured a drop from 45 to 29 % (16 points) in governor party popularity among voting age population since october, loosing 1,2 million voters.
Fidesz leaders personal popularity droppedPM Orban faces a very drastic loss, his popularity dropped from 48 to 32%, he lost 16 points, far more than any other politician.
Followed by his Chief of Office, JánosLázár, who was already among the less popular with 34%, now losing 14 points. However they are not the only ones to see themselves losing such an impressive number of sympathisants. Péter Szíjjártó, former State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations of the Prime Minister’s Office, and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade since 23 September 2014, replacing Tibor Navrasics, recently named European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, as well as the President János Áder and Minister of Economics, Mihály Varga lost all 10-13 points. Known for his bill banning homeless people living in the streets, Budapest Mayor, István Tarlós popularity dropped from 42 to 29%, however sacking a young and ambitious and rather successful CEO of BKK Centre for Budapest Transport, Dávid Vitézy, recently cannot yet affect his score. Nor the very recent idea of change the Budapest bypass M0 into a partial toll road from January 2015.
Hungarian ballots
There is an increasing number of undecided or silent voters who would rather give a white vote if there was such an option, as they cannot find a party that would represent their views, values and interests. The left seems unable to strengthen on a long term.
Hungarians helding the protests of last couple of month judge : exclusionary policies, destruction of the educational system, corruption and diplomatic scandals of the tax authorities, large scale corruption and lies, conditions of the national health care and housing system.
However social responsibility concerns did not seem to be enough hards to make turn the plate and get Victor Orban and his party Fidesz lose the last election spring 2014. Indeed his party got for a second time the supermajority and can now push really hard the lawmaking. But unattractiveness of the left parties, who are though present on last month demonstrations, was not the only explanation. A change in the electoral law prior to the elections let them win the supermajority (⅔ of seats) while less than half of the voters chose them. Moreover they integrated the Party of Christian Democrats who got important ministries while the party has no real support in the Hungarian society. ....
Budapest streetview of last couple of months
On 17th of November
people of Budapest launched their call, and showed the blue light of their phones, to protest against the internet tax, the high level of corruption, general overtaxation and the current foreign policy of Hungary, protesting for more transparency, freedom, responsible governing and the declaration of a Hungary belonging to the European Union. The event was named “We Won’t Shut Up”.
A month later on the 16th of December
Budapest protesters called for another public demonstration named: Nowhere to retreat. Several dozen civil organizations joined the event. On the same day solidarity protest were organised in a dozen of Hungarian and quite a few foreign cities: Vienna, Birmingham, Bristol, Brussels, Helsinki and New York too. This last event was however preceded by another demonstration in Budapest on Sunday the 15th and national worker’s union demonstration on the main highways on Monday.
On the 14th of January
it will be a year ago that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán signed an agreement with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, on the expansion of the Nuclear Power Plant in Paks, engaging Hungary in a 30-year financial loan, and details of the agreement remain unknown to the public. Russia will finance the project of building two new units of the nuclear power plant by allocating 10 billion euros (80 percent of the construction costs) in the form of a 30-year loan.
This beginning of a beautiful friendship with Russia will then have its first anniversary.
Budapest protesters called for another public demonstration named: Nowhere to retreat. Several dozen civil organizations joined the event. On the same day solidarity protest were organised in a dozen of Hungarian and quite a few foreign cities: Vienna, Birmingham, Bristol, Brussels, Helsinki and New York too. This last event was however preceded by another demonstration in Budapest on Sunday the 15th and national worker’s union demonstration on the main highways on Monday.
On the 14th of January
it will be a year ago that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán signed an agreement with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, on the expansion of the Nuclear Power Plant in Paks, engaging Hungary in a 30-year financial loan, and details of the agreement remain unknown to the public. Russia will finance the project of building two new units of the nuclear power plant by allocating 10 billion euros (80 percent of the construction costs) in the form of a 30-year loan.
This beginning of a beautiful friendship with Russia will then have its first anniversary.