No clear solutions in Budapest
As announced, the Párbeszéd politician did not make any proposals for the positions of deputy mayor after he failed to find a majority in favour of his candidates. ‘The people of Budapest have elected a colourful citizenry without a clear natural majority. Therefore, the search for compromises derived from the responsibility for the voters must take centre stage,’ commented Karácsony.
At the request of the satirical party MKKP, the city councillors decided to review the budgetary practice of the years 2020-24. The party of the ‘two-tailed dog’ was even able to achieve the establishment and financing of a modern animal welfare centre for the capital. Fidesz supported a DK (!) initiative for the mayor to negotiate with the Minister of the Interior to increase the level of public safety through increased police patrols and other measures. According to the Vitézy parliamentary group’s proposal, Budapest’s transport companies are to be given their own unit to ensure safety on buses and trains. Fidesz-KDNP asked for the reintroduction of ‘litter islands’ in public spaces.
The MKKP’s proposal to implement a transparency and anti-corruption programme, which was drawn up by the NGOs TI, K-Monitor and Átlátszó, did not receive a majority. Instead, the citizens’ assembly called on the mayor to submit his own draft in order to achieve transparency in all municipal companies and budgetary bodies. During the debate, Fidesz made it clear that the capital’s operations could not be scrutinised by pseudo-NGOs from the Soros network. DK commented that, in contrast to the state-supporting corruption of Fidesz, the opposition-led Budapest does not want to tolerate even the slightest trace of corruption.
‘Laboratory test’ for 2026
At the constituent meeting, all formations promised to work constructively and in the interests of the voters in the Budapest parliament. Nevertheless, the leader of the Fidesz-KDNP parliamentary group, Alexandra Szentkirályi, declared that the ‘left-liberal’ majority in the parliament had prevented the election of the deputy mayor. The relevant issues of Budapest politics should not be decided in back rooms. Dávid Vitézy, who heads the independent Podmaniczky parliamentary group, reminded the audience during the debate that Gergely Karácsony was re-elected, but more voters voted in favour of a change of course in Budapest. Sándor Szaniszló, leader of the DK parliamentary group, described the Budapest citizens’ assembly as a “laboratory experiment” because all opposition parties are represented here, which could ensure that the Orbán government is replaced in 2026. He immediately called on the Fidesz-KDNP local politicians to ask the government to reduce the so-called solidarity tax, which has risen to 75 billion forints, and to return a total of 90 billion forints that have recently been taken from the capital under various legal titles.
Mayor Gergely Karácsony: ‘The search for compromises must take centre stage.’
‘Life has overwritten all theories,’ commented Péter Magyar on the course of the constituent meeting after neither a pact between Fidesz and its Tisza party nor a grand coalition with the mayor’s camp materialised. The leader of the Tisza party present at the meeting, who opted for the European Parliament after the elections on 9 June, sees a cross-party consensus in the Budapest citizenry to gain more powers (to the detriment of the Lord Mayor). The leader of the Tisza party in Budapest, Eszter Ordas, pointed to the fact that all ten MEPs will be working in committees as proof that they want to take active responsibility for Budapest.
LMP: Raise salaries!
The LMP (backed by Vitézy) immediately requested a significant increase in the salaries of the Lord Mayor and the mayors of the city districts, towns and municipalities in the country. Ministers and members of parliament automatically receive higher salaries every year in line with the average salary, while the salaries of mayors are fixed in nominal terms and have remained unchanged for almost a decade. The mayor of Budapest, for example, leads a city with a budget of 450 billion forints, while his remuneration does not even reach the standard of members of parliament.