Thrilled Nation
That is true in all its sense. Today is the election day of the local governments in Hungary. This fact, by itself may not seem interesting, but a relatively long series of events make it an unforgettable chapter of the Hungarian Fairy Tale.
Fidesz, a conservative party, does not have a single counterbalance on the leftist side, but there are at least 3 parties (the Hungarian Socialist Party, the Democratic Coalition and the "Together - PM") competing more or less together. Obviously, they were forced to nominate a single candidate for the mayor of Budapest. Mr. Ferenc Falus (formerly the director of the National Public Health Service - so basically a boring doctor) was the privileged one to challange Mr. István Tarlós (independent, but strongly supported by Fidesz), the current mayor. Mr. Falus later challenged something else:
The Challenger (Hungary, 2014)
This imprudent act was one among the many reasons that he resigned as candidate, pushing a bit closer the opposition to the edge of the cliff.
Events on the oppositing side worth mentioning
- Mr. András Váradi, neighbour of Orbán in Felcsút challenged the local mayor as an opponent, claiming that "Fidesz pillaged the whole country". He was killed in a hit&run accident a day before the elections.
- Mr. Gergely Karácsony, candidate of "Together-PM" (so basically the leftist opposition) in a district of Budapest. His quote of "hating the socialists more than Fidesz" is all around the district on billboards.
- Mr. Péter Juhász (Together-PM) got the fancy nickname "drug abuser" and "pothead" since he was a known activist of marijuana legalization.
- The current candidate of the left (!) for Budapest mayor is Mr. Lajos Bokros, a hard-boiled neocon economist, being famous for his large budget cuts he initiated as finance minister back in 1995.
Oh, and Romania did not defeat us in the EURO2016 football qualifications (final result: 1-1). A big thumbs up for Pali Dárdai!
October 12, 2014