On August 19 I wrote a post in which I described the Orbán government’s outrage over a sentence in a lengthy interview about the lack of rule of law in Poland and Hungary. Ten days later, Magyar Nemzet picked up the topic again in an opinion piece titled “Bad news about the anti-Semitic opposition.” According to the article, it is not Fidesz that is tainted with anti-Semitic sentiments but members of the opposition parties. The examples, he claimed, are endless.
It is true that Jobbik, which today is part of the united opposition, was at its inception and for several years thereafter an anti-Semitic party, but it is certainly not true about the other opposition parties. As far as today’s Jobbik is concerned, it made a sharp ideological turn, and the party got rid of most of its bad apples. But the past is impossible to erase. Time and again, newly discovered old or not so terribly old anti-Semitic comments keep surfacing. This is exactly what happened to László Bíró, a member of Jobbik, who had been put forth as the joint candidate of the opposition in Borsod County’s 6th electoral district, around Tiszaújváros and Szerencs.
This a crucial election. Fidesz’s two-thirds majority in parliament depends on its outcome. On July 10, Ferenc Koncz, the Fidesz representative of the district, had a fatal motorcycle accident. If Koncz’s district is won by the opposition, the number of Fidesz MPs will be only 132 instead of the “133 brave men,” as Orbán called his voting machine.
The opposition parties agreed that in this particular district Jobbik had the best chance of winning against Fidesz’s new candidate, Zsófia Koncz, the daughter of the deceased MP, who was enticed to return from Washington where, for the last three years, she has been “political adviser” at the Hungarian Embassy.
Then came the first bombshell, when Magyar Nemzet found that Bíró had made some ugly anti-Semitic remarks on Facebook. And, if that weren’t enough, Jenő Setét, a Roma community activist, said in an interview on Klub Rádió that Bíró had also made several anti-Roma comments as well. Setét warned that he will inform the Roma organizations about Bíró’s racist views and expressed his hope that Roma voters will not cast their votes for him.
Although Bíró apologized, the damage had been done. Even some of the commentators who are full-fledged supporters of the democratic opposition, like TGM, Tamás Bauer, and Zoltán Somogyi, raised their voices against the candidate. Still, it looked as if, for a chance to upend Fidesz’s supermajority, the opposition was ready to go ahead with a very unpopular choice.
But soon enough it became clear that undermining the credibility of the candidate wasn’t quite enough for Viktor Orbán, despite analysts’ predictions of a relatively easy Fidesz win. It seemed that they wanted to prevent the opposition from entering the race altogether. Now, you have to bear with me because I have to explain a complex legal trick that Fidesz, with the help of the huge Fidesz majority in the National Electoral Commission, used to preclude Jobbik from appearing on the ballot.
The claim is that Márton Gyöngyösi, deputy chairman of Jobbik, who asked the National Electoral Commission to place his party on the ballot, was not eligible to do so. Gyöngyösi was deputy chairman of the party even before Péter Jakab was elected chairman at the end of January. Gyöngyösi was reelected at the same time as deputy chairman. However, according to Jobbik’s bylaws, the old leadership would remain in office until May 12. This date happened to fall in the midst of the state of emergency, which declared that those officeholders whose terms of office expired during this period would remain in office for 90 days after the end of the state of emergency.
To my mind, Gyöngyösi was and still is deputy chairman of the party, but Fidesz challenged this interpretation, and the National Electoral Commission ruled in Fidesz’s favor. The argument is that Jobbik submitted its request to register the new leadership shortly after the January elections, but no decision had yet been made on the matter by the authorities. The delay may well have been intentional. In brief, Gyöngyösi as a member of the old leadership can no longer act on behalf of his party and as a member of the new leadership cannot yet perform any official duties. Perfect nonsense. Jobbik appealed, but the Kúria ruled in favor of the National Electoral Commission.
The opposition parties’ international press conference
While his case was pending, Bíró couldn’t campaign. By contrast, Fidesz’s candidate, Zsófia Koncz, has been campaigning fast and furious since August 15. It was under these circumstances that the other opposition parties opted to put up the Jobbik candidate as their own, despite Bíró’s very checkered political career. Yesterday, representatives of Jobbik, MSZP, DK, LMP, Momentum, and Párbeszéd held an English-language press conference in which they stood by the candidate and emphasized the need for unity. The democratic parties obviously find breaking the stronghold of Fidesz in parliament so important that they are ready to take on the odium of nominating an anti-Roma and anti-Semitic candidate.
The opposition politicians seem sanguine about Bíró’s chances, and I suspect they might be right. As we know, Fidesz’s pollsters are incredibly active, and, given the importance of this parliamentary seat, I suspect they have learned that the election might be tight. The opposition might even hope for a repeat of the reaction in Borsod County that happened during the municipal elections, where the Fidesz candidate for mayor of Jászberény, after losing by 14 votes to a Jobbik candidate, insisted on repeating the election. What happened? In the second round of voting, the Jobbik candidate received 62.9% of the votes. The voters punished the incumbent Fidesz candidate by going out in hordes to show their dissatisfaction with Fidesz’s crude manipulation.
I suppose that what prompted the democratic opposition to endorse Bíró, despite his checkered past, was the fear that their abandonment of unity would do irreparable harm to their chances in 2022. Anti-Fidesz voters, almost across the board, want total unity: one list and one candidate for prime minister. If they fail, Viktor Orbán can be the dictator of Hungary for decades to come. Standing behind Bíró was a distressing choice. Only time will tell whether it was a wise one.
“HungarianSpectrum” has an important post today regarding the “wisdom” of unity at the ballot box in resisting the regime, especially given the antisemitic and anti-Roma comments of Laszlo Biro, the Jobbik/coalition candidate. While I do sympathize with the strategy of a coalition approach, I do not believe any elections alone will end this regime. Given that possibility alone, does it make sense in the name of unity to back such a flawed candidate with “not so terribly old” facebook posts that are antisemitic and/or anti Roma? Does not the opposition risk- in backing such a candidate as Biro- being seen as cynically calculating in the same vein as Fidesz? I don’t have answers, just questions. I offer my questions knowing full well that “Hungarian Spectrum” is an ethical and well informed source regarding not just Hungary, but many other topics? I also recognize that the post today is 100% aware of the “distressing choice” presented in opposing this awful regime. No easy answers.
Suspicious: are all regime loyal and opposition parties following fully or partially Active Measures orders?
Is there a Western leader like Jimmy Carter, to support the refusniks, to end the rule of the Kremlin select regimes?
– Firstly, the presence of a racist candidate on the democratic side is a minor issue compared to the whole orbàn’s racist regime with it’s policies and propaganda feeding the wide spread racism here (recent eg. the refusal to pay the damages awarded to Roma children, never ending Soros etc. propaganda and slurs).
– Orbàn nurtures the Mi Hazànk “party” formed by the extreme former Jobbik who refused to turn towards the center.
– The election rules forcing all non Fid parties into a very difficult and unnatural electoral union were designed by the regime which uses this to play on the differences there.
– Finally, I wouldn’t call “complex legal trick” what basically is unlawful delays (of registering the Jobbik filings) and an absurd ruling of the puppet NElectoral Commission, it’s a fraud with a legal fig leaf (don’t know the justification of the Kuria ruling).
Again, the NEC is illegitimate, just like all the Hu institutions which are supposed to be independent by their statutes, but are lead by party soldiers and serve the regime instead.
“Although Bíró apologized, the damage had been done. Even some of the commentators who are full-fledged supporters of the democratic opposition, like TGM, Tamás Bauer, and Zoltán Somogyi, raised their voices against the candidate” – Eva writes. I find the merely three words she spent on Bíró’s unusually unapologetic apology a bit tight-lipped, but this is not the issue. Neither is the predictably contrarian comments of those professional contrarian commentators. The issue is that Mr Bíró could have (should have been) one candidate among several in the first of primary elections which should have been organized on the occasion of this by-election by the newly pledged alliance of opposition parties. Instead of letting the candidates individually report for a primary contest of the joint opposition, in the name of the joint opposition, and let the joint public of the opposition decide about the actual candidate who will be finally filed to oppose Fidesz, using the primary for a thorough wetting of all of the candidates’ past and present deeds and future chances, the parties decided to do the choice themselves. The result is the candidate (the only one) is unavoidably a candidate of one of the parties; his or… Read more »
Miklós H
You are basically right about what the opposition should do, incl. the lessons from Belarus (or other experiences), but this is a very difficult task we have to admit. And they are all Hungarians, ie. professional or born contrarians or worse, some say pri..s, which doesn’t help either, eg. your own tone is invariably rather critical where it could be advisory.
I’m not so sure about how much “damage was done”, imo voters are not so sensitive and their dislike or hate of the Orbàn regime is by far the dominant factor in their choice.
Have always thought Magyar politics has never really driven the ‘revenge‘ factor out in its troubling discourse. There is an undercurrent of it constantly working. Perhaps one essential thing an opposition needs to keep in mind is to not only be concerned about losing but also winning. And in the winning an idea comes to mind. They should hope they have acted well in enough honor that they do not have to engage and continue those cycles of revenge which exist in the divided political atmosphere.
Fidesz has had pretty dirty hands with power. If the opposition does effect a win later on better for them to have ‘clean’ ones. With that it will get the country going in another direction and a better one at that where they don’t have their life’s work to put adversaries tumbling around in ‘washing machines’.
One lesson the Belarus opposition is offering is that they are willing to engage in a civil war if necessary at least rhetorically. The Hungarian opposition is not willing to cross that line or even raise the specter of a potential street level conflict with Fidesz. The Belarus opposition with hundreds of thousands in the streets is completely unarmed and so far the security forces of the government have remained loyal to Lukashenko. Putin has made it apparent he will not let Lukashenko fall without blood in the streets. Putin used a birthday phone call today to invite Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to visit Moscow, a Kremlin show of support even as thousands of protesters streamed into central Minsk demanding Lukashenko step down. There is another lesson in this and its Syria and the ability of the Bashar al-Assad to survive because it was willing to turn the country into rubble with the direct support of the Russian military and its allies. There is no reason to believe Lukashenko is not operating with the same logic. We shall see if the Belarus opposition is willing to engage in combat in the streets if Lukashenko unleashes his security forces on the… Read more »
Personally I’d rather have a debate with someone who’s openly anti-Semitic or anti-Roma than someone who says “I’m not a racist but…”
And here it’s even worse – you have a towering hulk with several heads talking different things.
Szerencs – Good luck
It look like to drive out the devil with the beelzebub. I imagine how Roma and Jews and foreigners have to live under a racist. But the question is also how far away is Fidesz and its apologists. Orban has not yet proven to be a philanthropist or a friend of Hungary. I think Orban is an anti-Semite and a racist. If Fidez loses the 2/3 majority the citizen can only win. The only thing Fidesz does with its majority is to suppress the citizens who do not sing the praises of Fidesz.
Checked the 2018.Apr.08 election results in that election district:
–OV&Co: 25,662 votes [49.3%]
–Jobbik: 16,469 votes*
–MSZP-PM: 7,757 votes*
–LMP: 1,182 votes*
–Other parties [tot.15! mostly fake parties]: 986 votes
*adding the main opposition parties together: 25,408 votes [48.8%]
Note: Jobbik was by far the biggest opposition party and also then with Biró László as candidate!
Now that the [real!] opposition parties are finally [!] forming a united front against OV&Co, it most likely should bring them at least [relatively] more votes than 2 years ago.
Other things which have influence [but unknown to me]:
–local support of Jobbik split A Mi Hazank [will most likely vote now for OV&Co]
–popularity of OV&Co’s new candidate, being the daughter of their 2018 winner [who passed away]
–local changes in popularity of OV&Co and [now united!] opposition
PS: the actual official info shows only two candidates [so far]: OV&Co’s and an independent
See at https://www.valasztas.hu/orszaggyulesi-valasztasok1/borsod-abauj-zemplen-6.-oevk-20201011
I also checked the 2019.Oct municipality election results.
Unfortunately there can hardly be taken any conclusions from, because, except in the main town Tiszaújváros overwhelmingly won by the United Opposition against OV&Co], everywhere else most votes went to independent candidates, without any clear connections to either OV&Co or the United Opposition.
Furthermore I fully disagree with critique by some commenters against the opposition parties and their inability to hold primaries etc.
I consider such critique not helpful and mainly very unfair!
How could United Opposition achieve this during the ongoing Corona epidemic and OV&Co’s consequent unfair [illegal?] hindering of others and therewith anti-democratic policies? Impossible!
Back before flagrant greed and nationalism took hold of US politics one used to hear the idea of the party (Democrats or Republican) described as a “Big Tent”, meaning that within the single party different views were acceptable because ultimately there was a common goal. There are such examples in other countries also where politics is still regarded as the art of compromise. This lesson has still to be learned by the opposition parties as Hungary totters along its road to some level of political maturity (theft, greed, criminality and the urge for power must be abandoned if Hungary is to make any progress). More yet, the lesson has still to be discussed sensibly by the current opposition. I shall express myself in non-pc terms: “Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians”. That is, ALL of today’s opposition party “leaders” see their own position and self-perceived status as more important than the important political goal. They are too little for the job. There has to be a change of mind-set in these parties to the realization that there is only ONE worthwhile goal – uniting, developing a common, clear programme and defeating the Orbán criminal regime. OK, if it takes primary… Read more »
„Ten years of Orbán have brought merely a dribble of betterment for the ordinary Hungarian,“
Just out of curiosity Bimbi what are you thinking about? In April 2010 for one Euro you got 265 Ft. Current exchange rate today 354 Ft.. The health care system was better, though not good. Educational opportunities were better. There are workers who today can buy less from their wages than in 2010. I have more comparisons that all point in the same direction. I do not want to mention the bad roads …
@Don Kichote, 6:00 am
I certainly don’t have statistics at hand either to support a case for betterment or worsening for the ‘average joe’. Since 2010 government control has increased markedly, choice has decreased unless you want a bunch of essentially similar TV and radio programmes. There is more control and rigidity in education, inflation and expenses for a family seem to be up. There have been marked improvements in health care (in Budapest). However, one does not feel that there is an appreciable betterment for people in the last ten years – and this is because of theft, bad decisions and government choice. Your feeling is that the level of prosperity has generally decreased? You could be right…
However, my main point is the absolute need for Opposition Party unity.
Thanks Bimbi I thought I had missed something. I have been living here for 20 years and I can remember 2010. 10 years ago 1kg of white bread was 100 Ft. Today over 300 Ft., firewood robinia (false acacia) was one solid meter about 6000 Ft. today over 20 000 Ft.
DK
Bread was 250-300 Ft/kg 10 y.a. and has gone up by 22-40% up depending on the kind.
https://vasarlocsapat.hu/_hirek/_elelmiszerarak/kenyer-arak.shtml
Observer and again Hungary is the winner, I’m tired of being the winner, you should hear many times said.
I am sure that I am not the only one who has noticed Fidesz tactics for dealing with criticism – simply turn the table, and accuse your critic of doing exactly that what they admonished you for. It is just that – a tactic. In this case, it is undeniable that Jobbik was founded on racist ideology, similar to the National Front in the UK, and Force Nuove in Italy. But whatever it takes to defeat Orbán’s criminal mafia regime should be done, including harnessing a political party whose former credentials were abhorrent, but who have changed their tune. As for anti-semitism, let’s not forget just one of thousands of instances of Fidesz racist, bigoted and anti-semitic rhetoric and behaviour. As for instance the 2006 election, when the former Israeli Ambassador to Hungary, Judy Shorer, politely made the rounds of all the campaign headquarters, in a diplomatic effort to be non partisan. When she entered the Fidesz “tent” she was told immediately by one of Orbán’s head honchos to “get out you filthy Jew”. This was not a Jobbik member, but a typical crude and rude Fidesz big cheese. And it would not take long (though it would take an… Read more »
The sad truth is that a majority of Hungarians act like bigots when it comes to diversity in society. Therefore it might be wise for the opposition to have someone who can represent the mainstream racism in Hungarian society.
You are right. Woke crap will not work in Hungary. I wish it wouldn’t anywhere
A propos this excellent blog post and the political background of Fidesz’s phoney anti-anti-Semitism, may I recommend my article in Patterns of Prejudice, “Islamophobia and anti-anti-Semitism in Hungary”? https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0031322X.2019.1705014?journalCode=rpop20
Ivan I get an error message.
Connection timed outThe initial connection between Cloudflare’s network and the origin web server timed out. As a result, the web page can not be displayed.
I have found out that it is a geobloking bug. You can reach this page via a Canadian server VPN.
Thanks, Ivan for these very clear words!
I got the page – and I’m in Hungary right now, though google sometimes thinks I’m on the other side of the Danube and sends me ads in Slovak language … 🙂 🙂
Yes interesting when I serve with a German VPN it does not work.
If Satan himself were to stand against this immoral regime, I would vote for him without thinking.
The Hungarian border will be closed from September 1.
The decree exempts:
Orban’s friends (with diplomatic passport) (1. § (1)),
sports(wo)men, (international soccer cup final in September!) (1. § (2)c,
“leading” officers of foreign companies (9. §),
foreign students (6. § (2) d),
people who come for wedding, baptism or funeral (Lord Virus loves large weddings and funerals….) (6. § (2) f).
file:///C:/Users/dormo/AppData/Local/Temp/MK_20_195.pdf
As opposed to March, the virus is currently spreading almost everywhere in Hungary (18 out of 20 counties), the border closure is probably meaningless.
2-week increases of confirmed CoViD-19 infections (August 30 vs August 16):
Hajdu county: 84.9%
Szabolcs county: 70.4%
Bács-Kiskun: 56.8%
Győr county: 45.3%
Budapest : 21.5%
Hungary overall: 21.3%
Pest county: 17.8%
FYI: You can still have good quality FFP3 masks delivered from Poland, at reasonable prices.
The correct link to the decree:
Magyar Közlöny 2020. évi 195. szám, 2020-08-30
on
https://magyarkozlony.hu
@tappanch, 11:36 am
Do you have any idea if there is a gram of scientific justification behind this decision or this Dictator speaking to his electorate by telling them he is “closin’ dem borders”? Sure now that the Fidesz Croatian party season is over and Orban and his contaminated cronies have returned, the number of new infection contacts rises. Surprise, surprise.
But where is the science and where is Dr. Cecilia our CMO when she is needed?
Great info. I just wanted to do a like, but it doesn’t let me.
It has been written already that democracy means compromise – and change.
my favourite example is the CDU which were Clerical Fascists not too long ago – sexual suppression was their favourite – unless a catholic priest was involved) .
But they’ve changed and are even in coalition with the Greens – as junior partner …
And now reality in Hungary:
An elderly neighbour of ours was supposed to be operated on this week. But the hospital told her to stay at home – they have no blood stored there. Maybe they’ll get some next month …
Who knows if she will stay alive that long.
@ “one list and one candidate for prime minister. If they fail, Viktor Orbán can be the dictator of Hungary for decades to come.” The opposition must fight but this motley crew of amateurs will not be able to defeat Orban. Orban will continue to be the dictator of Hungary for decades to come. Period. The political capabilities of Fidesz are orders of magnitude better than those of the divided opposition parties even combined (which is normal in an autocracy). The difference is so vast (especially outside Budapest) as to be almost unfathomable for those not familar with the situation. I agree with Andras Hont (a pundit at HVG.hu) that either this government collapses (for some as yet unknown reason) and the elections will be just the rubberstamp on the actual political situation; or this opposition will not be able to defeat Orban and his system. The Jobbik candidate is irrelevant really because Orban controls – among others – Mi Hazánk (the group of few MPs whicih is a pro-Fidesz splinter group who left Jobbik not so long ago; there are others who are independent but also left Jobbik). Since Orban also controls the Constitutional Court and the general Court… Read more »
Three observations. 1) Fidesz will not in fact lose its 2/3 majority if it looses this by election. The representative of the German minority will continue to support the government without being a formal member of the Fdedesz-KDNP parliamentary caucus. 2) Jobbik cannot credibly claim to have put its anti-semitic past behind it while *Márton Gyöngyösi* -author for some of its most offensive public statements in that area remains deputy chairman. 3) The parties new respectably “Christian-Democrat” Declaration of of Principles (launched in July) was co-authored by (among others) Fr. Zoltán Osztie, former chair of the Association of Christian Intellectuals. he is the man who tried to hold a memorial mass for Miklos Horthy on Holocaust Memorial Day in 2018, is a chaplain to the Vitezi Rend and has allowed his church to be used for their ceremonies. Bottom line: these people have not changed and people in theft and centrist parties need to stop kidding themselves in that score. The United Opposition had much better jettison Jobbik from the alliance, thereby riddiing itself of a reputational liability and a party which is visibly dieing on its feet. Hungary needs a decent moderate-conservative party in the mix. All Jobbik is… Read more »
“Left and Centrist” above.
Although this is true, but a win of a united opposition would be an incredible psychological blow to the regime.