The dollars that flowed into our country from abroad were used by the left-wing parties for their own campaigns, according to the partial report of the State Audit Office, which has become public, in which the organization reveals the financial background of the campaign for the 2022 parliamentary elections. The ÁSZ imposed a serious penalty: the left-wing parties are forced to pay a total of HUF 261 million as a result of the illegal support. But according to analysts, electoral dollars may fall on the left again, Action for Democracy is once again preparing to influence the upcoming EU elections.
On Tuesday morning, the State Audit Office (ÁSZ) published its partial report on the financial background of the campaign for the 2022 parliamentary elections, in connection with which it is known:
the left-wing parties and civil organizations used about HUF four billion in foreign resources.
More than HUF 1.8 billion of this amount went to the Meninki Magyarországa Movement (MMM), marked by the name of Péter Márki-Zay. This money comes from Gergely Karácsony's adviser, Dávid Korányi, who tried to collect donations for the left with his organization called Action for Democracy. An influential adviser of the American Democratic Party essentially admitted that most of these funds were donated by .
Brutal punishment
MMM's expenses are examined not only by the SAO, but also by the tax authorities. According to the partial report that has just been made public, the audit office revealed the use and origin of 261.26 million forints, and the National Tax and Customs Administration is conducting an investigation regarding another 1.412 billion forints. The full report will be made public when the latter investigation is completed and its findings are forwarded to the SAO.
In relation to the HUF 261 million in question, the following was highlighted:
the amount comes from the consideration of services that MMM financed at non-market prices, so the six parties involved are obliged to pay this much, i.e. HUF 43.5 million each - or by this amount the state support of the political formations is reduced.
In the partial report, the ÁSZ refers to the March 15 "change of government assembly"; posters, flyers, other campaign tools; he analyzed the costs of the publications "Yomtass te si", "Csak upyam" and "It's about you, it's about us".
Imported from America
According to the report, the money went to spectacular projects. The campaign song, the melody of which was borrowed from the American Patty Smith, has now become an indispensable element of the courting of the left - as well as the sums of money used to play the song came from the USA.
The ÁSZ stated in the report that DK, Jobbik, Momentum, MSZP, LMP and Párbeszéd
in the election campaign, he ignored the basic principle of the exercise of law in good faith and according to purpose, circumvented the legal requirements regarding the financing of their joint campaign, the limitation of the amount of campaign expenses and the campaign accounting.
According to the control organization, since the six parties and Márki-Zay's MMM held joint events during the campaign, used joint posters, a common logo and unified election slogans, therefore MMM's "campaign-related activities and expenses were suitable for the election campaign and the elections influence".
That's what they spent on
Parties on the left have paid out staggering amounts of money for SMS campaigns and automated phone calls, as well as social media ads and database building. HUF 860 million was spent on all of this. These activities were carried out by DatAdat, a group of companies run by people from the Gyurcsány-Bajnai district. The ÁSZ also separately examined the framework contract of assignment between DatAdat GMBH, i.e. Vienna-based DatAdat, and Márki-Zayék on March 17, 2022.
HUF 324 million was spent on campaign meetings and events, HUF 365 million on posters, flyers and other campaign tools.
In addition, HUF 133 million were spent on publications, such as the aforementioned Yomtass Te Is! for the publication, which wanted to enlighten the "rural people" in a condescending
Although the Gyurcsánys and several other left-wing actors denied that they knew about the foreign campaign money, this is also impractical because, for some reason, the parties (LMP, Jobbik, DK) gave ten percent of the total expenses for the March 15 event, while the Márki -Zay's movement financed 69 percent of the total amount, and "economic companies" 21 percent.
The expenses of the "change of government rally" will be presented later, here and now it is only worth noting that the left party's event on March 15 cost a total of HUF 383,173,914.
Absurdly, on the national holiday of Hungarian independence, the left could pay for up to ninety percent (!) of its commemoration from foreign sources - Magyar Nemzet reviewed the report of the State Audit Office.
According to analysts, election dollars may fall on the left again
The rain of election dollars is coming again - this is what analysts draw attention to in connection with the Mandiner article . The portal wrote that Action for Democracy published open calls for tenders on its official website. They would support those organizations which, as they say, work for the protection and reconstruction of democracies. For example, Hungary and Italy are also called battleground states. According to analysts, Action for Democracy, which funds the left of the dollar, is once again preparing to influence the upcoming EU elections.
Action for Democracy explained: they mainly seek to strengthen democratic actors in battleground states such as Brazil, Hungary, Italy or Poland. They wrote: "we are partnering with leading organizations protecting democracy to promote real elections."
The portal also cites the organization's application conditions. It also states, among other things, that the applicant must comply with all local and US rules and regulations, including applicable election and campaign finance laws, and that they must communicate fully transparently about the support they receive.
Action for Democracy, which claims to be an American-based non-profit organization, recently revealed that György Soros is actually behind it - at least in terms of financial support.
In the leaked videos, the members of the organization themselves talk about the fact that during the Hungarian parliamentary elections, the illicit party financing money, later known as the rolling dollars, came from György Soros.
Cover photo: MTI / Zsolt Szigetváry
