Chairman of the non-parliamentary party TISZA (Respect and Freedom) and MEP Péter Magyar sharply criticized Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. He accused him of spending his vacation in India during Hungary’s critical situation, when war is raging in the neighboring country, the value of the forint is at rock bottom and the country has lost a billion euros from European funds. With reference to the commercial television ATV, the correspondent of TASR in Budapest informs about it.
Magyar is Orbán’s strongest critic. In an interview with ATV on Monday evening, he said that Hungary’s situation requires early parliamentary elections. “In 2008, but also in 2006, Viktor Orbán requested early elections. If that had happened, Hungary would not have disintegrated under the government of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány,” added the chairman of the TISZA party.
According to his statement, 70 percent of Hungarians think that the development of the country is going in the wrong direction, 60 percent demand a change of government, and in such a situation the Prime Minister will go on vacation to India. Magyar said that he is waiting for answers to questions about how much this trip cost Orbán and why he kept it secret. “How can the prime minister travel to Asia for a few weeks to relax at a time when the country is under a state of emergency, in which the cabinet rules by decree,” criticized Orbán.
The TISZA party issued a statement on Thursday (2.1.) that early elections could realistically take place in the second half of April, and based on the decision of the presidency, the party will go into campaign mode from January 6. TISZA also took steps to accelerate the selection of candidates for parliament and to finalize the program of its future government. On January 1, the Government Information Center (KTK) denied in a statement that the ruling Fidesz-KDNP bloc was preparing for early elections, as alleged by the opposition.
On Friday (January 3), Orbán arrived in the city of Kochi in the southern Indian state of Kerala for a private visit. Independent opposition MP Ákos Hadházy drew attention to this on Facebook, referring to the report of the Indian server manoramaonline.com. The prime minister arrived at Kochi International Airport on a Qatar Airways flight at around 08:30 a.m. with his wife Anikó Lévaiová, two daughters and a staff of five. He is to visit several places in the state of Kerala and is to return from India on January 16.
