We don't see a political program, we only hear platitudes and unsubstantiated promises. I do not think that this would be the desirable path for the renewal of the opposition, the Hungarian left. Written by Gábor Fodor.
36 years ago, on March 30, 1988, we founded the Association of Young Democrats at István Bibó College. We did not know then that we were living in the last years of socialism, the Kádár system. We didn't even know that with our action we started the process of regime change in our country, since we were the first to take organizational action against the communist "holy trinity" - a party, a trade union, a youth organization. The chance of replacing the system seemed far-fetched, but we were sure that we wanted to act so that democracy and a market economy would one day exist in Hungary. Two years later, with free elections, this special period ended: instead of a planned economy and dictatorship, the people chose a market economy and democracy. We also gradually regained our self-determination, since after more than a year, in 1991, the last soldier of the occupying Soviet army left our country. We are back in the community of free countries.
Since then, the question has been repeatedly asked: did we want a world like this during the regime change?
As an active political actor of the regime change and the following decades, my answer to this question is that we should try to treat democratic Hungary as a parent treats its child. We want children, but we never know exactly what our daughter or son will be like. It will certainly resemble the one we imagined, but it will not be the same. It causes both joy and sorrow, sometimes we will wonder who it resembles, from whom it learned these things, at other times we will be proud of it and say "well, right". This is how we are with free Hungary.
The period between 1988 and 1991 can be regarded as the most beautiful period of our past decades. We were full of great ideas, faith, optimism and, of course, illusions. It is natural that after the fever of change passed, the reality of everyday life was less uplifting. One thing is certain: we are the only ones responsible for our past three decades. We were not forced to do anything by foreign weapons, we decided our fate. We became part of the Western world, joined NATO and the European Union. We elected governments that the people wanted. In addition to all our fierce disputes with each other, we have moved from the group of moderately developed countries to the group of developed countries. Looking a little further, we can rightly say that we are in a good place in the international integrations we have chosen, and we have moved in the right direction as part of the Atlantic cooperation.
Up close, however, the picture is not nearly as inspiring.
I have already mentioned in several of my articles that from the time of the regime change until the beginning of the 2000s, Hungary was one of the leaders in the region, along with Slovenia and the Czech Republic. I will not forget that our Polish friends - leading Polish politicians at the time - were optimistic about the rapid development of their country at the end of the '90s, but they always remarked: unfortunately, they will never be able to catch up with the Hungarians (now they have left us). Since our EU membership, we have not been able to use our opportunities as well and effectively as the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe, once occupied by the Russians. The gross national product (GDP) of the Visegrád countries has increased by 140 percent in the last 25 years, ours by 76 percent. According to the latest data, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and Romania are already ahead of us in the region, and Croatia has just caught up with us.
Of course, we know that the development of a country should only be compared according to several numbers that require fine-tuning if we want to get a precise picture. But in our case, whatever variation we look at, the essence of the result is unchanged. It should also be noted that although Fidesz governed with two-thirds of the majority of the last 20 years, i.e. with almost a free hand, in the 6 years that a socialist-liberal coalition governed our country, the fact of gradually lagging behind the others did not change. .
What is the reason, then, that while we were among the most successful between 1988 and 2004 - compared to the given circumstances - since then we have been strengthening the camp of breakaways? In the press, in public life, on the surface, the ability of Hungarian politicians, the disadvantage of the peaceful nature of the regime change, the lack of accountability, the "deep state" of the relations saved from communism, the "mafia state" built by Fidesz - or simply György Soros and Viktor Orbán are used mark as a problem.
I don't think the solution is to be found here. Of course, there are several specific mistakes we made (e.g. Péter Medgyessy's 100-day program or the Fidesz government's spending before the 2022 election, etc.). But there is a more general reason for our lagging behind.
In fact, our main problem is our lack of cooperation skills, the historical weakness of the culture of cooperation in the Carpathian Basin.
The tragic XX. century created serious traumas in Hungarian public thinking. After the dissolution of the Monarchy, as a result of Trianon, we turned from the second most important power in Europe into a medium-sized state bleeding from a thousand wounds. The next world war brought us the Holocaust, a second "Trianon", Russian occupation and communist dictatorship. After 120 years, we were able to celebrate the change of regime as our first serious political success. In the last 30 years, we should have learned not to forever look for scapegoats for our tragedies in the left, the right, the West, etc., but - learning from these - to strengthen ourselves in debates and act together for important issues (this could have been done, for example, in order to free up EU resources the joint stand by the government and the opposition).
From our historical traditions, we should not foster murderous opposites (Kossuth-Széchenyi/Deák, folk-urban, etc.), but rather the need to find a common voice (e.g. regime change). If the employees of a family, a community, a company can cooperate, then they are successful, effective and happy. If not, they are ineffective and frustrated. It would be worthwhile for the left to finally acknowledge that Fidesz won the elections not because people are stupid, manipulate them, cheat and the like, but mainly because the majority supported them. And Fidesz should finally understand that it is not possible to build a successful Hungary in such a way that the side that lost in the elections is regularly declared the enemy of the nation, and that they declare a constant fight against them and consider them as pariahs.
There are always problems and difficulties. The past few weeks have been noisy with the aftershocks of the pardon scandal and the story of former justice minister Judit Varga and her ex-husband, Péter Magyar. The events also provided a topic for friends and family conversations during the Easter holiday. My opinion on this matter is known:
secretly recording a conversation with my spouse and later playing it publicly to hurt him is dishonest. You cannot represent a good cause with such means.
Still, why is it possible that many people in the opposition field enthusiastically observe the appearance of the vengeful ex-husband? Well, I think so
a wave of a multi-factor crisis brought Péter Magyar to the surface. On the one hand, the left is experiencing a serious crisis, as their parties and leaders lack credibility in the eyes of their voters.
As an opposition friend of mine said in a conversation: she doesn't like Judit Varga's ex-husband, but she sees this DK, MSZP, momentary (and more) suffering as hopeless, so someone should come along to sweep this all away, just in case something from it.
On the other hand, the government side, Fidesz-KDNP, is going through a double crisis: on the one hand, the financial situation of all of us has deteriorated significantly, and our livelihood has been difficult in the past two years. Among the EU member states, the Hungarians had to pay the highest price for the economic crisis, with record inflation, a drop in living standards, currency deterioration, and a budget deficit, which, in addition to international factors - war, Covid, energy crisis - was mainly generated by the government's faulty economic policy. On the other hand, the pardon scandal morally shook the right-wing voters: although they did not switch sides to the opposition, many of them had serious doubts.
This double wave has now lifted the ex-husband, and many expect him to sweep away the hopeless left.
Is it really true, as my friend said, that anything is better than the opposition side that is working now?
I don't believe in that. We don't see a political program, we only hear platitudes and unsubstantiated promises. Magyar gained interest not because of his special public insights, not because of his firm moral and political convictions, but because he used seriously worrisome methods to confront his former friends and spouse, with whom he was on good terms for a decade and a half, to whom he belonged, who ensured his livelihood. I do not think that this would be the desirable path for the renewal of the opposition, the Hungarian left.
But is it at all possible to represent something new and progressive in this domestic political system, which has hardened into a standing war? Yes, maybe, only because of its tabloid nature, the press has so far mainly dealt with Hungarians in the recent period. He cared little about the appearance of Dávid Vitézy, who is currently the most refreshing phenomenon in Hungarian political life. He is prepared, has serious political points to make, has put something on the table in the past, and uses social media well. With his nomination, the LMP, from the left for the first time in years, is finally showing political innovation, and they bravely undertook what we also tried to achieve at the time with the Liberal Party: to create an independent political profile. Not to make peace with the flock at all costs, no matter how much the representatives of the press and the leaders of the major parties (and the "Budapest intelligentsia" have been conditioned to this for decades) expect this.
The nomination of Vitézy shows that it is possible to bring a new color to opposition politics in a fair way, if you have the knowledge and talent to do so.
Easter always means reckoning with the past, then renewal, rebirth. Hungary obviously needs this - both the government and the opposition. May we have enough wisdom to understand these symptoms and signs. And let's be brave enough to change the usual for the sake of our country.
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The author is the head of the Central European System Change Research Institute, lawyer, liberal politician, former minister.
The opinion articles do not necessarily reflect the position of the Civilek.Info editorial team.
Featured image: Gábor Fodor, president of the Hungarian Liberal Party, on the commemoration day of the 1848/49 revolution and freedom struggle at the party's celebration event in Budapest during Pilvax on March 15, 2019. MTI/Márton Mónus
