The Hungarian Election Thread (it's this sunday, folks!)

[Tamas]

So I thought I give you a quick rundown on the parties, so you can understand sunday news better.

MSZP: they are the governing socialist. Has been so for 8 years. During that 8 years, they have managed to completely destroy themselves with blatant corruption and incompetence. Their rank and file as well as their leadership is choke full of ex communist functionaries (the party itself is the legal heir of MSZMP, the one and only party of the commie years).
They only had one reformer during these 8 years, Ferenc Gyurcsány, and even his own party failed to support him. For this election, they promise tax cuts while maintaining the welfare system, and eradication of corruption, a New Way of doing things.

Fidesz: the biggest opposition party, they will win by a landslide the only open question is wether they will achive a 75% majority or not. They are a sort of right-ish populist party which needed Easter Europe to surface (anti-communist ideologies, loud refusal of "socialism" while praising state ownership and in general big state involvement in people's life). Their earlier strategy included laying down to the far-right, but that skeleton is so out of the closet in a form of a separate party, that they have started spitting on them. Too late. They gave birth to an organized nazi movement which will eventually ruin them, Horthy-style. For this election, they promise tax cuts while maintaining the welfare system, and eradication of corruption, a New Way of doing things.

Jobbik: the nazi party with his own milita-like (unarmed) organization to boot. Anti-jew, anti-gay, anti-gypsy, anti-rest-of-the-world, anti-corporation, populist scum assholes I could not despise more. They will probably become 2nd largest party after Fidesz, due to the general public being fed up with the politics of the others and not caring much for the anti-semite rhetoric. (30s style) the "gypsy issue" is a big selling point of theirs because the fucked welfare system fuels cultural clashes and all the other parties have been acting like this issue does not exist, while it does define the everyday life of the poorest rural parts of the country. For this election, they promise tax cuts while maintaining the welfare system, and eradication of corruption, a New Way of doing things.

LMP: their name means "politics can be different" a ragtag band of far-left and darkgreen intellectuals, the only thing differentiating them from Jobbik is the lack of nazi remarks. the only reason they have a chance of getting into parlaiment is their name. For this election, they promise tax cuts while maintaining the welfare system, and eradication of corruption, a New Way of doing things.

MDF: once, this was THE conservative party. While Fidesz grew rapidly to overcome their market, the two parts of the party fought bitterly inside. One half was the nationalistic bigots, they ended up first in Fidesz, then many of them in Jobbik. the other smaller half won because they had no other party to go to. They seemed to be a more progressive bunch, going for economic conservatism (in the proper sense ie. they want less state control in things).
As a culmination of that, during the last EU elections they backed Lajos Bokros, who is my national laisez faire hero, a renowned expert of the IMF. Altough they did manage to get him into the EU Parlaiment, Bokros was a demonized figure in the 90s because he was Socialist Finance Minister when he did a major cut in welfare to avoid bankrupcy. The support of such a guy caused a major rift in the party which threatened to destroy them. To strengthen themselves, the battered leadership made an alliance with the otherwise completely destroyed liberals. that caused even more infighting (if possible) and even the senior liberal politicans opposed the deal, so the only reason this party still exists is Bokros.
For this election, they promise the implementation of Bokros' detailed economic plans he has been publishing and pushing for years now. It calls for a more "neoliberal" state.

I would vote MDF but I think all is left of them is opportunistic fuckers who in the long run would make more harm to liberals than good. I will just cross over the ballot and thus hand in an incorrect vote. Fuck this lot.

[Martinus]

Hungary can not into space.

[Alexandru H.]

We're just waiting for Hungary to become a dictatorship again in order to invade it. It's been like 90 years since our last conquest 

That being said, Jobbik is eons better than our own nationalist parties, most of which stink of latent communism and moronic leaders. They have some unfortunate messages (well, only the anti-jew annoys me, the other ones, including anti-romanian, are quite refreshing) but as a whole the movement is serious business. I hope it steals as many votes as possible from Fidesz.

[CountDeMoney]

I will play Brahms today in celebration of Gypsyocracy.

[Agelastus]

For this election, they promise tax cuts while maintaining the welfare system, and eradication of corruption, a New Way of doing things.

That all sounds awfully familiar...

[Tamas]

Today's scandal is a leaked audio recording (leaked on kurucinfo.net the major hungarian nazi newsite of our times) of a leading Fidesz official, from an internal meeting where he proudly explains how they have built a computerized database of basically every voter-age citizen of the city of Pécs (cultural capital of the EU, 2010, btw). No, not just their voters, everyone. They have been keeping records of who showed dislike of them etc. And he outlines how there is/should be (can't recall) work to be done to make this into a country-wide centralized network of local databases.

Now, beside this being creepy, it is strengthened by two facts: first, when Fidesz ruled (1998-2002) there was heavy handling of any public figure going strongly against them. Tax authority harassment, plebs frenzied against them, you name it. So the party certainly has its history. And to think this very party, this very leadership was the liberal youth in 89

Secondly, there is nothing of value known about what Fidesz plans to do. Their leader, Orbán, speaks some sense when in front of international diplomats/journalists or economic people, for example serious cut-back on the insanely huge public administration (for which they would need 75%). But also they spout out the most blatan populist bullshit so if you listen to these you end up with the picture of a party which wants to seriously cut back government income while seriously raising government spending and control...

[Camerus]

Which party is promising to reduce tariffs on beet fertilizer?

[KRonn]

I'll probably vote Fidesz, though MDF would seem a good choice if they didn't seem so marginalized. 

So, where can I register to vote!   

[Ed Anger]

I'd vote for the party that wants to invade Romania. And supports beet subsides.

[Razgovory]

Cool, Fahdiz created his own political party in Hungary.  So that's what happened to him.

[Alexandru H.]

I'd vote for the party that wants to invade Romania. And supports beet subsides.

I'd have a hard time choosing what hungarian town I'd govern after the conquest of Hungary. I'd have to take over that Fidesz database, find Tamas' hometown and fill it with gipsies... 

[Tamas]

I'd vote for the party that wants to invade Romania. And supports beet subsides.

I'd have a hard time choosing what hungarian town I'd govern after the conquest of Hungary. I'd have to take over that Fidesz database, find Tamas' hometown and fill it with gipsies... 

In a Hungary-Romania war you could kiss your Transylvanian hinterland good bye as the hungarians and especially the szekelys would turn into guerrilas. not to mention the dubious morale of your hungarian conscripts.

[Alexandru H.]

I'd vote for the party that wants to invade Romania. And supports beet subsides.

I'd have a hard time choosing what hungarian town I'd govern after the conquest of Hungary. I'd have to take over that Fidesz database, find Tamas' hometown and fill it with gipsies... 

In a Hungary-Romania war you could kiss your Transylvanian hinterland good bye as the hungarians and especially the szekelys would turn into guerrilas. not to mention the dubious morale of your hungarian conscripts.

Actually in such a war I'd be on nobody's side... just form a group that would try and create an independent political formation in the Carpathians... besides, I've lived all my life among szekelys, they are good guys and would enjoy independence more than the dictatorship of Romania/Hungary...

[Tamas]

Oh by the way, the funny thing about kurucinfo.net, the nazi webpage being outraged over the Big Brotherish data-handling of Fidesz is that the modus operandi for them has been to publish photo, name, address, phone number of any "enemies of the people". Like the attorneys who represent the state against lunatic nazis and such.

[CountDeMoney]

Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria...can't tell 'em apart, they're all in the Axis Minors force pool to me.