March 29, 2024

Orban under pressure - Hungary's powerful fear people - News

Orban under pressure – Hungary’s powerful fear people – News

Content

Viktor Urban has secured almost limitless power. But he and his friends in his party fear the 2022 elections.

Viktor Orban has been in power in Hungary for eleven years. During this time he gained so much power for himself and his party Fidesz that political scientist Andras Korosini calls the regime in Hungary the “leader of democracy”. The American human rights organization Freedom House describes Hungary as only a “partly free country”. However: the powerful in Hungary are afraid of people.

Contradictions and irritations

On June 15, the Hungarian government will allow more than 60,000 spectators to enter the new Puskas stadium for the Euro football match between Hungary and Portugal. However, the government itself limited the number of participants in a demonstration criticizing the government to a maximum of 500 people. No wonder the protesters did not follow the guidelines. Thousands took to the streets in Budapest on Saturday.

Last year, the government decided to withdraw important income from municipalities: parking fees, vehicle taxes and tourism taxes. It is said because the central government needs more money in the pandemic. But the government itself has just decided to spend 1.5 billion euros to build a branch of China’s Fudan University in Budapest. The Chinese Communist Party will control the university. Everyone will have to submit to their own code of conduct.

Legend:

During protests in Budapest on Saturday, a protester holds a sign comparing Orban and Mao Zedong.

Reuters

This also annoys many of Viktor Urban’s friends. Because Orban was a communist employee until 1989. But in May 1989, in a landmark speech, he called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Hungary. This speech was a cornerstone of Orbán’s political career and the foundation of his subsequent political successes. To this day, he still boasts that he fought communism in Hungary.

At the demonstration against Fudan University, the opposition mayor of Budapest said he would prevent the building of the communist university and “the government is much weaker than it appears”. Is he right?

Building a Parallel State

For all their might, Orbán and his people seem to fear the Spring 2022 elections. Otherwise, why has the government recently begun to give away billions of euros in state property to private foundations, all run by Fides individuals or their friends – appointed for life? A national wealth will no longer be available to a possible future government.

And so Viktor Orbán builds a parallel state in which “a change of government does not mean any danger,” says journalist Marton Gergeli of HVG.

If Fidesz loses the election next year, it is likely that a large number of its main figures will end up in prison for corruption. However, Hungarian historian Kristian Engfari recently said: “This system cannot be defeated by elections. And certainly not with those who organized it Fides ».

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