Hungarian Politics

[Tamas]

I like the LMP by the sound of them

Do you not have a liberal party of some form?

This is a bit of a tangent but how does Hungary have so few parties?  It seems very odd for a continental country.

Could corruption cause the downfall of Fidesz?  I think it was in the Czech Republic where two entirely new parties overtook all the established ones on anti-corruption platforms.

The liberals, who were more like social-liberals, really, were the second strongest party in 1990. Then in 1994 they agreed to form a coalition with the Socialists, and slowly eroded away by being much more busy with corrupting themselves to riches than articulating an own party indentity. "Liberal" is a smear-word for most Hungarians nowadays.

Corruption is certainly a possible downfall for them, they are doing it rather arrogantly. But again, it's not like the biggest opposition party is not full of angles of attack on themselves on that topic.

[Tamas]

hehe, Jobbik just did something: they asked for national referendum on a bunch of laws which were to be accepted today. Two laws, actually, the religious one, and one consisting several modifications to make laws compatible with the new constitution - I don't know the details.

Now, it will be the Parlaiment to decide wether a referendum can be held. So there won't be any. But by current rules, this decision can only be made in February.

never mind! FIDESZ found a glitch in the constitution (the old one, which is going out of business in two days) regarding the rules on referendums, and they just cancelled Jobbik's call.

[Syt]

I like how some user comments on Austrian news sites say that these events in Hungary are played up to distract from the general EU crisis, and that Hungary is doing nothing worse than what other countries or the U.S. do.

[Tamas]

  the urgency and amateruishness on their lawmaking is horrible:

They just now accepted a new water utilities law. It would deserve a look on it's own (they declare that any given utility company will have monopoly in a town, and that prices must be equal everywhere. ie. so of course people next to a major river on the plains will be paying more so that people on top of a mountain may pay less, vive le' centrally determined prices!), but they added some, well, addendums on topics they needed to cover asap.

So, as important extensions of the water utilites law, they introduce a concept of "healthcare emergency" to force doctors to work, in case their planned evacuation of our healthcare system would cause major problems.

An other quick and important matter of water utliziation is to give casinos exemption from the smoking ban law coming into effect from Monday.

Also quickly covered waterutilisation topics are modifications to MP compensations and investment funds rulings.

[Tamas]

I like how some user comments on Austrian news sites say that these events in Hungary are played up to distract from the general EU crisis, and that Hungary is doing nothing worse than what other countries or the U.S. do.

Which reminds me, today an Austrian border town was covered in the news (state TV, so there you go) that people are throwing a tantrum over the planned sale of the empty border guard buildings, the mayor are worried that they'll have to buy containers as makeshift offices if the border is reinstated.

A bit anxious to have those fences back? 

This perceived Austrian attitude towards us is the only thing stopping me to take half of my parents' savings an deposit them in an Austrian bank. Perhaps this is why this issue was covered in state news. 

[Syt]

Their anxiety is understandable. Recently, after 20 years, the last recruits of the Army left the "support mission" in which military personnel moitored the borders towards Austria's eastern neighbours for illegal immigrants. They had no hard mandate (they had to call border police if they spotted something suspicious), but it was a hot political issue and gave the average Austrian some peace of mind that the Mongol hordes would not invade overnight.

[Zanza]

Tamas, is there anything silly planned about foreign investments? The company I work for invested a lot in Hungary.

[Tamas]

Tamas, is there anything silly planned about foreign investments? The company I work for invested a lot in Hungary.

I wouldn't think so, but these guys are totally unpredictable. But I do hope they see that they have pushed everything to the limit.

This is a hot topic for myself as well - the company I work for have built other central european offices big enough to quickly scoop up our workload, so I don't think they would take further taxes or government harrasment lightly. 

[alfred russel]

Yesterday I saw a lead on some financial channel, "No appetite for Hungary."

[Martinus]

Hungary is like a twilight zone version of Poland, where PiS wins a decisive victory and faces no opposition.

Btw, in Poland during the PiS rule they faced an almost unified front of media, celebrities, intellectuals, professions such as lawyers, judges, doctors etc. that eventually broke them. Why are such groups so apparently weak in Hungary? Is this a legacy of 1956 somehow that people are not accustomed to civil resistance?

Well, it's a bit complex. We have no radical, violent far left. We have almost all of the mob on the far right, and mostly controlled by FIDESZ. The rest of it is with Jobbik, but for whatever reason, Jobbik has been the mildest opposition party. Sure, they complain for a lack of improvement in public safety, but what else can they do? Their "program" includes being angry at the jews and gypsies and homosexuals, and being all full of proud national rhetoric. The latter is COMPLETELY stolen by FIDESZ, the rest is stolen in part.
The thing is, you cannot get into a populist brawling match with FIDESZ without a serious risk of losing. And Jobbik can only gain by letting things play out - the collapse of the country will drive people to them, and the new laws will serve their undemocratic ways nicely.

The left is still disabled by the leading position of the Socialists. They have lost all credibility, and the new leftist party, LMP, is too much of a local debate group of big city hipsters to hold any kind of popular appeal in a country of bluecollar city dwellers and rural rednecks.

Besides, you cannot overtake FIDESZ from the left either. What are you going to do? Promise more state control of the economy? Compared to FIDESZ? LULZ. More welfare? The country is on the brink of bankrupcy because FIDESZ refuses to cut state spending in a meaningful ways.

What you are left with is protesting the things in Sheilb's article, but the people do not care enough for that. They care about the momentary state of their wallets. Affect that, and they will shout. Avoid immediate effect on their short-term financial status and they will let you do anything. This is the great lesson Orban knows fully well.

It's not like you have to campaign on economy (other than normalcy). You could overtake Fidesz from the left by putting a stress on "worldview" issues while at the same time promising a stable economy? What about a party that would campaign on "we will stop Hungary from being an international pariah and make the country normal and safe again"? That's how PO won the government from PiS. I find it hard to believe that an average Hungarian is a greater xenophobic, racist, homophobic idiot than an average Pole.

[Neil]

Isn't hating gays what normal people do?

[Capetan Mihali]

An other quick and important matter of water utliziation is to give casinos exemption from the smoking ban law coming into effect from Monday.

  No more puffing away in the cafe listening to "Gloomy Sunday" over a shot of Unicum?

[The Brain]

The company I work for invested a lot in Hungary.

What. The. Fuck.

[Martinus]

Haven't seen Tamas posting about this, so:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15982882

Hungary outlaws the homeless.

This would be funny if it wasn't so sad. Next, they should outlaw unemployment, poverty and disease. That would create a healthy nation of rich and gainfully employed Hungarians.

[Tamas]

Haven't seen Tamas posting about this, so:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15982882

Hungary outlaws the homeless.

This would be funny if it wasn't so sad. Next, they should outlaw unemployment, poverty and disease. That would create a healthy nation of rich and gainfully employed Hungarians.

Well, only a district of Budapest outlawed them, to be correct. And there has been a civil movement to force the revokation of this.