It is worth looking at what has been realized from the tsunami of promises made during the 2019 municipal election campaign. It is also difficult to make an exact list because the promises are partly related, but according to the counter of the Promise Monitor website, Gergely Karácsony made 156 commitments, and of these, around 30-40 were fulfilled with goodwill.

One of the left's favorite topics is the issue of transparency, which was also the most emphatic promise. However, according to experience, the operation of the capital is much more difficult to see, and even mostly completely opaque, compared to the period before 2019. The leaders of the city often make statements that contradict each other, so not only has the use of the annual budget not become more transparent, but the information is also uncertain about what the 200 billion euro reserve left behind by the activities of the mayor István Tarlós has been used for, and how much of it is left in the at the disposal of the capital management.

From the point of view of the transparency of the operation and management of the Metropolitan Municipality, it is considered important that Gergely Karácsony joined the Ez a Minimum program as a candidate during the 2019 local elections. The fulfillment of the commitments made at that time was checked in a mid-term follow-up study, according to the findings of which the transparency performance of the Metropolitan Municipality is exceptionally good. However, the credibility of the program is strongly questioned by the fact that only left-wing municipalities are in the forefront, around which serious economic scandals have erupted in the past period.

For the same reason, they asked Gábor Bagdy, who was the deputy mayor responsible for financial affairs during the time of István Tarlós, and is currently a representative of the capital.

"During the campaign, Gergely Karácsony promised that they would prepare a clear, transparent budget for everyone, which would clearly show where the money is going; and in connection with financial matters, his other promise was the community budget, which meant that the residents of Budapest would also have a role in the compilation of the budget - Gábor Bagdy recalled the mayor's commitment. - Compared to this, the budget is so opaque that I don't think even Gergely Karácsony can adjust to it. Not so much that this year we only adopted a six-month budget in terms of content, and the additions for the second semester were not made. It is a mockery of the idea of ​​a community budget, that it essentially took the surplus from the business tax, an amount over ten billion forints, entirely within its decision-making authority, which it can decide on its own. During the time of István Tarlós, when we gave him the opportunity to make such decisions during transitional periods, we talked about one hundred and one hundred and fifty million frames."

Gábor Bagdy emphasized that not only did nothing come of transparency, but he gave himself the authority to exclude not only the general assembly, but also his fellow leaders from spending more than ten billion forints.

The lack of transparency is clearly shown by the fact that the 200 billion forints that were inherited have essentially been lost, which Gábor Bagdy described as a constant melting of this amount, which will be completely used up by the end of the year.

The full article of Magyar Hírlap can be read here.

Author: Zsolt Sütő-Nagy

Image: Szilárd Koszticsák