Opposition rules out grand coalition in Hungary

Fidesz chairman Viktor Orbán ruled out the possibility of a grand coalition with the Socialists, saying new people and a new platform are needed for change. Party deputy chairman Lajos Kósa had mentioned such a possibility on October 23.

Addressing a conference organised by the Fidesz women's section Sunday afternoon, he said "an ugly world will occur in Hungary" unless the right wing is able to act as a social right wing and unite interests.

The government is now building on human selfishness, Orbán continued, as marginal social sections will start stirring up hatred against the still successful middle sections of society rather than against the "remote billionaires" of the government. Orbán said the middle class should therefore make a pre-emptive move to forge a historic alliance between the man on the street, the millions afflicted by a social crisis and those who still manage a solid living.

Orbán declared that those living on wages and salaries have by now realised that the Hungarian left has lost its social sensitivity, the nation is run by "a ruthless party of billionaires" and the ruling parties are unable to run the country. To drive his point home, Orbán said the number of registered unemployed has risen by 40% since 2002; three million people, including 850,000 children, live below the subsistence level; domestic energy prices have risen by 60%; and health care spending has dropped by 40.5% in the past three years. He also said that the number applying to attend college or university has dropped by 33% because of tuition fees, while the infant mortality rate has gone up by 8.5% this year.

In other remarks, Orbán described as a lie the claim that health insurance companies will remain in mostly state control, arguing that despite the 51% stake the state will have in them, investors will appoint three of the five directors. He added that private investors will have to pay the cost of undoing the multi-player health insurance system if Fidesz takes power.

The above story is just one of more than two dozen published today by Hungary Around the Clock, the most comprehensive source of daily English-language news about Hungary. For a free trial of HATC, click here. Hungarian news sources include Népszabadság; Magyar Hírlap; Világgazdaság; Napi Gazdaság; Magyar Nemzet; Népszava; Kossuth Rádió news and Hungarian television's nightly news broadcast.

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