Gábor Fodor, a liberal politician known since the regime change, who was also the president of the SZDSZ party, but was initially considered one of the defining faces of Fidesz, said in an article the other day: "Many people laughed when I said in an interview in '89-90 that I think the the prime minister of the next period will be called Viktor Orbán." - reported mandiner.hu
Blikk: "Recently, he appears in the public eye as the director of the Central European System Change Research Institute. Is it possible to maintain objectivity if you are researching a process of which you were a part, even a shaper?
Probably not, but that's not my goal either. I created the institute because it is doubtful to what extent the values characteristic of the time of regime change, such as the search for consensus, democratic conviction and commitment to the market economy, are present today. We don't want to look backwards, the goal is to be able to present the values of the past even today. The institution is still in its infancy, we work with few employees, and we hardly have any money, but I trust that we will get started. I do several things, I am invited to TV shows on a weekly basis and I teach at the ELTE Law Faculty, in the Bibó College. These keep me fresh, as I have to deal with current events all the time.
Blikk: The society does not have such a good opinion of the regime change. What mistakes have led you to this point?
There were many illusions that did not come true. People expected that in a short time we would reach Austria's standard of living and that there would be a consolidated democracy in the country. That is why the disappointment is serious, which is greater for us than, for example, for the Poles or the Czechs, because they started from deeper.
We underestimated the importance of historical consciousness and traditions. We thought that the problems of the last forty years and the century would be erased with a stroke of a pen. Today I see that it is not so.
It's likely that we didn't do a lot of things right. For a long time, I was the internal opposition of the SZDSZ, I said that we were pursuing a flawed policy, which can be described very simply by the fact that by the beginning of the 2000s we had become a satellite party of the MSZP and the independent liberal image had disappeared. The SZDSZ still functions as a mummy, but I consider this to be unfounded. Countless important and good causes were connected to the free democrats.
Blikk: Do you see a party today that does it better?
No. Unfortunately, the opposition side is a disaster today. They continue where they left off at the second two-thirds. Nothing good will come out of this. Of course, power can fall into the lap of the opposition at any time, but it would not be able to use it because it did not prepare for it and does not pursue quality politics. The party leaders should strive to create new generations whose members have a value-based commitment to a democratic political trend and understand the reality around them.
Blikk: Did you think in the eighties that your friend would become a politician of such importance?
Many people laughed when I said in an interview in '89-90 that I think the prime minister of the next period will be called Viktor Orbán. Even then, it was clear that he was an above-average political talent with serious ambitions."
Source and full article: mandiner.hu/ Blikk
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