Just gonna post the occasional story about the Fascist right Wing government in Hungary on this thread.
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Subject: (en) Britain, Anarchist Federation Organise! #78 - Hungary:
the far right menaces
Up until 2010 Hungary was ruled by a union of the left in alliance with a liberal party.
At its head was Ferenc Gyurcsany from the Socialist Party (MSZP). It operated a programme
of severe austerity based firmly on free market and neo-liberal principles. There was much
popular anger against the measures of this government and Gyurcsany had to hand in his
resignation after he was forced to admit that he had lied eighteen months before, when he
deliberately withheld information about the actual budget in his 2006 re-election
campaign. -- The parties of the right, in alliance with those of the far right, exploited
the situation by offering a fake anti-market programme and advancing its protectionist and
racist and xenophobic recipes. As a result FIDESZ , a nationalist, protectionist, and
conservative party led by Viktor Orban, came to power thanks to its alliance with JOBBIK,
a far right party with virulent racist rhetoric and squads of thugs, and with the KDNP,
the Christian-Democrat party.
This success of the right was even seen in
the capital Budapest where a con-
servative mayor was elected for the
first time.
FIDESZ and its allies immediately
began a savage reactionary pro-
gramme starting with a reform of
the Constitution. The word Republic
was removed from references to the
country, now designated simply as
Hungary, implying a national mono-
culture, the rights of minorities were
suppressed, the right to abortion
and the rights of homosexuals were
questioned, the media now came un-
der stricter control and censorship,
journalists were sacked, the judiciary
came under greater control of the
State and an attack on the legitimacy
of the right-far right alliance's oppo-
nents began.
Organ also instituted a works scheme
that was obligatory for the unem-
ployed, in particular targeting the
Rom gypsies of the country. These
work schemes have been character-
ised as labour camps by some. He
made a further proposal that these
camps should be guarded by retired
policemen.
As to the promised anti-market
measures, in fact what happened
was that the work laws were abol-
ished, education and the public ser-
vices were decimated. There was a
forced reshuffle at the central bank,
electoral changes were made so that
this new government can still main-
tain control even when support for
it has shrunk. Thus the central bank,
the Constitutional Court and the ju-
diciary are far more firmly under the
control of the prime minister than
before.
All of this is in the context of
a deteriorating economic situation.
As a result anger among the Hun-
garian population is mounting. It is
organising to oppose the measures
of the government. At the present
the main organisation participating
in this mobilisation is the EMD move-
ment- A Million For Democracy- tied
to reformist notions and far from
combative and containing strong
electoralist currents, especially with
the LMP party (Politics Can Be Differ-
ent). A demonstration of 30,000 took
place on 2nd January of this year,
in addition to opposition parties
attracting the Hungarian Solidarity
Movement, based on the politics of
PolLish Solidarnosc. However social
movements are emerging in this
context not tied to any of the parties
and based on grassroots self-organi-
sation, often using social networking
to organise. As yet they are still a
small force and include a movement
among the students , opposing the
reforms of the universities imple-
mented by the regime.
As a result of the worsening eco-
nomic situation and the growing
opposition, the government will turn
to further autocratic measures and
will increasingly emphasise a rabid
nationalist rhetoric, whilst carrying
out an apparent anti-market politics
with a threat to tax the banks and
to nationalise some private pension
funds. All of this with the intention
of securing conditions for a further
loan from the International Mon-
etary Fund.
Whilst illusions about the left par-
ties have been dispelled among large
swathes of the Hungarian masses,
indignation against the authoritarian
right administration is mounting.
This opposition has to move towards
ideas based on self-organisation and
mass mobilisation and action. Events
of an earth shaking nature as with
the Hungarian Revolutions of 1919
and 1956 might yet sweep away
FIDESZ and its jackbooted allies.
