THE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF HUN POLITICS #1
Even though Memento is glad to officially confirm that the anti-internet tax protests had quite a cheerful and carnival-like atmosphere, it is also true that a shiver went down our spines spotting some long-time forgotten political celebrities in the crowd.
“A spectre was haunting the protests — the spectre of Gábor Demszky.”
The appearance of Mr. Demszky (age 62), a retired liberal politician and mayor of Budapest 1990-2010, came as bit of a surprise as allegedly he ‘fled’ to the US from public anger after his last term and kept himself well away from politics. What should you know about this great man? Thanks to the traditionally socio-liberal electorate votes of Budapest’s population and his smartness of positioning himself as a victim of right-wing governments’ anti-Budapest policy and the savior of the capital’s liberal identity from pseudo-fascist threats, Mr. Demszky could stay in office for 20 years, despite all the sins he committed against this beautiful city. Just to give you an idea about the legacy of his reign, imagine that during these decades not a single new metro station was opened in Budapest, a city of 1.7 million (mind that meanwhile Prague got 19, Warsaw 21 and Bucharest 10 new stations). And no, you are wrong if you think since he hates to go underground – the average age of the city’s bus fleet was 17 years, while the tram fleet’s 30 years when he stepped down. Also mind that if the global financial crisis does not break out in 2008, our favorite District7 would have never become a Mecca of Ruin Pubs, but a decent quartier-dortoir, with newly built expensive Tunisian-seaside-resort-hotel-looking multi-storey apartment houses. During Mr Demszky’s inverse Gründerzeit, backed by the local municipality, dozens of old houses were let to stand abandoned, in ruin and later sold to foreign investors with good connections much below market prices. Here is a great example. We all miss you, Gábor.
However, this “Demszky&Demonstration” coctail last week reminded us something totally different, one of the most memorable moments of Hungarian politics, known as Demszky esernyője, “The Umbrella of Demszky”.
On March 15, 2007, at an official state ceremony devoted to the anniversary of the 1848 Revolution against the Habsburgs, Mr. Demszky, as every year before since 1990, intended to make a speech at the statue of Hungary’s national poet, the Revolution’s icon, Mr. Sándor Petőfi. In those turbulent years far-right extremists always guaranteed that no government officials would have a good sleep before a public appearance, as these lovely people never missed a chance to give voice to their anger at such events. No surprise, that on this very day Mr Demszky’s bodyguards were well-prepared for everything. Even for an egg shelling.
Do not miss the video.
November 5, 2014