Stories of the Hungarian Elections of 2006

The background of election campaigns for the Hungarian elections of 2006

Stories of the Hungarian Elections of 2006

Hungarian Elections 2006 - Attacks on politicians Hungarian elections always produce strange phenomenons. The most interesting of these is when voters express their opinion in a strange and uncivilized manner. Lately, there have been two examples of this. First, in the beginning of February, a few activists of Green Party, a group from the radical right, have tried to disturb the campaign speech of Gábor Demszky, mayor of Budapest, by throwing a cake at him. It is easy to discover how this attack is reminiscent of that committed against Bill Gates a few years ago, and it may not be coincidence. The attackers were a group of friends brought together by the Internet and led by the "famous" blogger and shirt maker, Tomcat. While the Hungarian media tried to make as much of a scandal out of the case as they could, by interviewing Tomcat, the Internet community reacted in a much more civilized manner. In the following days many bloggers stated that democracy does not mean that people like the self-styled terrorist are free to throw cakes at politicians if they do not like them. In democracy, the civilized way to express one's opinion would be voting, at least for those who are mature enough to do so. The second incident occurred last week, when other Green Party activists tried to attack the open forum of Zoltán Pokorni, a FIDESZ politician, in Püspökladány. The group, wearing masks, was armed with pillows, which they intended to throw to disturb the speech, simbolizing that they have had enough of politics, and politicians should go to sleep. Security guards prevented the attack and removed the radicals from the building. Later on, the police arrested some members of the group, and stated that the age of the members ranged between 14 and 30 years. A FIDESZ speaker commented that this event was a clear attack against democracy. Two months have passed of the election campaign in Hungary, and there is one more to go until the vote on 9 April 2006. Chances are that many more entertaining events like these will happen, having very little or no effect on the outcome of the elections, but making the war-torn victims of the campaign, or, as some like to call them, the voters, smile. Hungarian Elections 2006 - Hunt for the Elderly Lady of FIDESZ There has been a pointless hunt lately for the elderly lady who can be seen on some of the “We live worse” posters of FIDESZ all over Budapest. The lady complains about the more expensive medicines, but Népszabadság, a newspaper close to the MSZP, decided to prove that the lady does not live worse than four years ago. Anyone with common sense could question if such a finding proves anything, but Népszabadság did not hesitate, they began the search immediately. In recent days they found a pensioner in Budapest who looks similar to the lady on the poster. The elderly lady in question had two apartments, and she lived of the rental of one. Unfortunately, Népszabadság was wrong: they picked the wrong lady. Mrs. Börzsönyi, the false pensioner felt deeply offended and threatened to sue the newspaper. Népszabadság apologized, but emphasized that the lady should have picked up the phone to avoid suspicion. In the meantime, Index.hu, the biggest on-line news portal in Hungary, found out that the pensioner on the poster is a Mrs. Fata, a Budapest pensioner and member of the FIDESZ, who really suffers from the more expensive medicines. According to the reports of the election section of Index.hu, one of the FIDESZ politicians, accompanied by the pensioner who “lives worse,” met the editor in chief of the newspaper today. But instead of emphasizing the suffering and illness of the elderly lady, they attacked the editor with much eagerness, for assaulting an unsuspecting old lady (ie. Mrs. Börzsönyi). This story should have a moral among the lines somewhere. It may be that the election posters are not to be trusted. According to the report, the poor heartsick lady turned out to be a fierce activist of FIDESZ who might only take pills when she gets overly excited about the values of her party. On the other hand, it is really questionable whether finding someone who is on an election poster has any point. In any case, the story gives a nice example of what election campaigns are like in Hungary. Hungarian Elections 2006 - Pisti Kovács is face of campaign and biggest success of SZDSZ I already mentioned Pisti Kovács, the 5-year-old kid, who became the campaign figure of SZDSZ, the Hungarian liberal party, for the 2006 elections. Pisti Kovács is a sympathetic person, it is really funny to see him on election posters instead of some depressing images ("We live worse..." -FIDESZ) or a futile effort to raise Hungarian confidence ("We did it." -MSZP). Pisti is such a pleasant sight that he draws the attention of lots of people. Citizens of Budapest stop to read the posters he is on. They read carefully what is written near Pisti's smiling head on public transports. They listen to the TV ads Pisti is in, even when they have had enough of consecutive ads of toothpaste and detergents. In one word, Pisti Kovács is popular, although only the future will tell wether the popularity belongs to Pisti, or associated with SZDSZ as well. Hungarian Elections 2006 - Do Hungarians live worse than four years ago? In preparation for the 2006 elections in Hungary, posters grow in number on the streets. Some of them, those of FIDESZ are particularly interesting and show how the mind of Hungarian politicians and public works. The posters show different people: a woman, with a desperate expression on her face; a middle-aged man, in deep sadness; a mother and her daughter, dreaming of their own house. Personal tragedies in Hungarian society, you could say, caused by the government in the last four years. The posters say: "We live worse than four years ago."

But do Hungarians really live worse? Hungarian voters biased toward the right would instantly say yes, Hungarians live much worse than before. But in fact, many people simply do not live better, and if they see these posters, they make them confirm their own feelings. On the one hand, this is a well-placed campaign by FIDESZ, appealing to many Hungarians. On the other hand, this may be another campaign of populistic propaganda full of hatred, like the one they had four years ago. While some see the posters and believe what they say, a lot of Hungarians are also disturbed by the negative campaign. In short, "we" live the same as four years ago: not richer or poorer, and just as much irritated by campaigns as back then. Hungarian Elections 2006 - Where are the nationalists? In many former parts of the Eastern Block, nationalist parties gained ground after the Democratic Transition, and in some countries they are still part of the government. But what happened to them in Hungary? People last heard of MIÉP, the biggest Hungarian nationalist party when it led a campaign against the NATO membership of Hungary. They did not make it to the Parliament four years ago, but for the upcoming elections, according to common sense, they should be on the move. So where are they? Hungary, and its public opinion in recent years have undergone some changes, making the work of nationalist parties, such as MIÉP, extremely hard. Unwary Hungarians slowly embraced Globalization, accepted the presence of foreign corporations in Hungary, and even started to like them. This undermines the major "frontline" where nationalists usually strike, that is, Hungary is owned by Hungarians. When people actually like the economy that includes foreign elements, with higher quality of goods, growing number of jobs, and a more diverse range of products and services, it is very hard to succeed with a campaign saying foreigners are the enemy. Nonetheless, MIÉP still survives. They are working on a smaller scale than ever before, trying to get individuals onto their side instead of the great masses of Hungarian public. It is likely that they will not be able to gain enough support this way until the elections of April 2006. Not getting into the Parliament once is a crisis for a party like MIÉP. But not getting into the Parliament twice is more like a death sentence, probably well deserved in an international environment. Hungarian Elections 2006 - The chances of smaller parties Currently, there are four parties in the Hungarian Parliament. A Parliament of many parties has been a tradition since the Democratic Transition in 1990. Back then, the Parliament consisted of even more parties, with many different values, of which only four remain today, the two smaller ones, SZDSZ and MDF, being only a shadow of their former selves. What will happen to the two first governing parties of Hungary in 2006? It is very hard to point out where SZDSZ and MDF lost their strong pool of voters. After the first elections, the winning MDF was forced to make a pact with SZDSZ to be able to maintain order in the country. This resulted in the alienation of the Hungarian voters from both parties. From the next elections on, they started to lose importance, having only supported the growing major parties, MSZP and FIDESZ. This degradation may end in 2006. MDF and SZDSZ might not even get five percent of the votes in April, the minimum required to get into the Parliament. And even if they do, the major parties might not be interested in carrying a burden of an argueing small party with different values, simply to get their six or seven percents in the second turn of the elections. All in all, it is possible that in the next four years, and even afterward, there will only be two parties in the Hungarian Parliament. This "natural selection" would also mean that Hungary will not require a separate liberal or another nationalistic party. Hungarian Elections 2006 - Is Centrum Party a force to be reckoned with? In Hungary, new parties have not been able to get into the Parliament. Experience shows that it takes very little effort to fall out of the Hungarian diet, and supposedly an enormous campaign to get in. Four years ago, a small party almost managed to do so. When the aggressive campaign raged in Hungary in 2002, a few politicians and minor parties decided to form a coalition that sided with neither the nationalists, nor the socialists. The coalition was named Centrum, and Mihály Kupa, a widely popular and previously independent politician became its leader. Unfortunately, the effort was too little, too late: Hungarians were already engaged in the battle between the two major parties, and did not have an interest in a small party. A few Hungarian voters who had enough of the quarrels of FIDESZ and MSZP, still voted for the Centrum, but their effort was in vain. Now, four years later, Centrum still exists, and Mihály Kupa is still its leader. It is a non-radical party, a possible "middle way" between the two major parties of Hungary. The presence of Centrum could even play a positive role, but they seem to have forgotten the elections again. At the congress of the party, in early February 2006, Kupa said that they plan to be part of the diet in the next four years through independent members, thus by 2010 Centrum could become an important political force. Statements like this make the casual observer wonder whether Centrum will get any votes in 2006, and whether it will survive until 2010. 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