The leader of the shadow government of the Democratic Coalition (DK) spoke about a strong state in Budapest on Saturday, his party XII. congress, where he announced the launch of a regime rescue fund.
Klára Dobrev described the utility rescue fund by asking all Hungarian citizens: those who can, help others pay their utility bills in December. He said that if they collect enough money, they will be able to resolve the conflict of "food or heating" for many families.
According to the opposition politician, Hungary is in very big trouble because it is weak; it is weak because the state is weak, and the state is weak because Prime Minister Viktor Orbán "systematically weakened it over 12 years". A strong, ready-to-act, resolute state that cares about the people is needed, but today the country has an "uncaring government", he insisted.
Speaking about the weak state, he mentioned as an example that during the coronavirus epidemic, Hungary had one of the highest deaths in proportion to the population. Life expectancy at birth is still decreasing as a result of the healthcare system "ruined by a weak state", he added.
Shadow ministers of the DK XII.
at its congress. DK congress, Congress Center 29.10.2022. Budapest photo: Tamás MH Purger
He also objected that while prices are in the "heavens" and wages are in "hell", the Hungarian state does nothing to protect those living on wages and salaries or pensioners.
Outlining a thought experiment, Klára Dobrev claimed that if a left-wing government had been at the head of the country for the past 12 years, Hungary would have been able to enter the eurozone around 2015-2016.
He also said that before 2010, 46,000 panel apartments were renovated in one year. If the cabinet does nothing else but continues the same program, more than five hundred thousand panel apartments would be renovated today, but the apartment buildings could have been renovated and much more money could have been given for the renovation of family houses, argued the politician. If there had been a left-wing government in the past period, they would have continued the solar and wind power program, he added.
Klára Dobrev looks into the distance
photo: Tamás Purger
He also voiced his opinion that if the country had a left-wing government that believed in democracy and dialogue, then "hate would most likely not rule" in today's Hungarian political life.
He summed up his thinking by saying that even under left-wing governments, everything would not be full of milk, there would be mistakes and slip-ups, but Hungary would be a better, stronger country. The country could be governed well even in the middle of the crisis, so one of the most important tasks of the shadow government is to show what they would do differently, said Klára Dobrev.
Among their policy proposals, he highlighted that they would double the amount of discounted gas and electricity for the population. The VAT on energy carriers should be reduced and the regime moratorium should be introduced for those families who have paid fairly up to now and could still pay the price before the "sevenfold increase", he suggested.
He drew attention to the fact that the DK prepared a program for the "restoration of the rule of law", which deals with the public procurement system, the prosecutor's office, the Constitutional Court, judicial independence, freedom of the press and joining the European Public Prosecutor's Office. "If we did this, we could come to an agreement with the European Union in a week and the money would come," said the DK politician and member of the European Parliament.
He added that with a "fair economic policy" the target date for the introduction of the euro could be determined in a few months. Naming the target date, restoring the rule of law and the arrival of European money would stabilize the forint in itself, he believed.
Klára Dobrev also spoke about the need to strengthen education, so teacher salaries must be increased immediately, teachers must be given back the right to strike and dismissed teachers must be reinstated. And in the health sector, after doctors, the wages of nurses and skilled workers must also be settled, he said.
Csaba Molnár, the executive vice-president of the DK and the chancellery minister of the shadow government, also spoke at the congress, according to whom "what is happening now to Hungarian families and the economy" is a direct consequence of the past 12 years.
The shadow government was created in order to demonstrate that it is possible to live in a different way, and that there is an alternative capable of governing in Hungary, the opposition politician stated.
In our opening picture: The Gyurcsány couple from the DK XII. at its congress
Source: magyarhirlap.hu
