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‘The caretaker will not rebuke us’ 2016 was the year of corruption in Hungary 9 Mar 2017

The Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán has made it evident for 2016 that besides the stability of the central political power consolidated in the last few years there are no values or visions to lead his internal affairs or personal policy. ‘The caretaker will not rebuke us’
The Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán has made it evident for 2016 that besides the stability of the central political power consolidated in the last few years there are no values or visions to lead his internal affairs or personal policy. Everything that we name under the terminology of corruption -such as overruling unlawful financial and influential gain at every level, building of clientele, growing number of oligarchs – has been legitimated as the very core of the political system, ‘the main political method of FIDESZ’. It is not exaggerating to say that it is privileges, raw community of common interest and supple political irresponsibility that holds together the otherwise colorful power structure. This is the way we saw the events of the past year.

For 2016 there are no more institutional and political benchmarks, neither concerning the rule of law nor the far away 2010 electoral mandate. There are no more value debates about the ‘civil Hungary’, we would rather forget about those years before 2010. The fairy tales of work-based society, opening to the east or the ‘hardworking little man’ have disappeared. There are back-to-back corruption news, but the government persistently ignores all the ominous contradictions crawling into the everyday operation of the system – such as the Simicska-lead “Közgép” undercuts milliards over his friendly rivals or when from one day to another Spéder Zoltán, former accomplice becomes an opportunist criminal in the governmental media. 2016 showed us as well how the system goes live and in what way it is good to keep loyal friends in money. The Orbán regime confidentially dedicates its politics to the service of “ruling the moment”, to the victory over often only stimulated assaults. The party breaks loose,  ‘the caretaker will not rebuke us’.

The political responsibility and real debate have become unknown concepts in 2016’s Hungary. Self-correction or accountability may only happen in secret, the lack of it is practically the only certification (verification) for the government. Looking at the overall concentration of power and the intrusion to almost every sector it is hopeless to wait for consolidation. Concerning the official opinion corruption has disappeared from the country since 2010. The Prime Minister has nothing to say about the accusation of his inner circles. In his end-of-year speech he declares it is none of our business if his party members, secretaries, repositories damage the state. Only critical remarks draw impeachment, the evaluation of practicing the political power is a question of relationship of trust instead of objective standards. We should have no illusion – there will not be a ‘one big story’ that in its reality reveals the contradictions of the system. Those contradictions such as the link between clientelism and competitiveness ruin the very depth of the social structure: corruption is a slowly killing poison. The government is stealing the future of the next generation with the total diversion of EU funds given to develop the social and economic infrastructure.

Examining our database monitoring public funds we may state that although “there is no corruption” but if there was any it would look exactly like this in legislation, public procurement, media-relations, patronism, political pressure and everyday practices.


We have prepared a list of ten alarming cases from last year:

 

1. Antal Rogán

It is not the well-known media story of taking a luxurious helicopter ride, and not even the famous corruption cases that he should have failed a long time ago. Not the strange coincidences and his manners – but the prime minister’s commitment to Rogán is a clear message that the key to political success in Hungary has nothing to do with developing standards, declared values and  real accountable political outcome.

2. Suspicious businessmen around the government

Opaque, unaccountable stich-ups without responsibility. The outstandingly anomalous Hungarian Residency Bond Program only exists of political ‘pride’, but let us not forget about the trading houses run by loyal friends of which expenses run much over its benefits. And the Pharaon-case is just the icing on the cake.

3. End-of-year public spending

At the end of December the 3% of GDP has been divided without any financial plan. Instead of putting in recoverable social investments in the field of education and health – or dealing with serious structural problems as poverty, competitiveness, migration, living standards and unemployment the government has no strategic plans in the drawer. The transparent and responsible management has practically disappeared and the government could make the decision without any consultancy in the Parliament.

4. Media-push

Instead of a detailed picture we would like to remember in key words about the most obvious and resonant political military operation, the demolishing of the media. ‘Népszabadság’, Hungary’s biggest and most important broadsheet has been cleared away. Mészáros Lőrinc has annexed most of the countryside press. The first trial of the government’s media-death-star-troop is over: the quota referendum finished with a politically ambiguous, but in any other terms devastating result.

5. Leaving the OGP, concealments

Hungary officially stopped fighting corruption. Moreover, it turned out that it was Viktor Orbán himself giving the order to fight the civils, especially those getting funds from the Norway and Soros Grants – such as K-Monitor. The Prime Minister promised similar attacks to those criticizing him for 2017. Meanwhile Fidesz with a special linguistic ‘manoeuvre’ and what is more, with legislative tools tried to make public spending more opaque (saying that ‘public spending has lost its publicity’), but luckily the court has not been a partner in this. Many corruption cases have come to light: the much overpaid government-related Századvég Foundation studies, the suspicious spendings of the Hungarian National Bank’s Funds, the bills of reconstructing Széll Kálmán Square. But tao-spendings were stated tax-secret and it is legal to ask for payment with FOI requests.

6. Lőrinc Mészáros

The biggest winner of 2016 is obviously Lőrinc Mészáros, Orbán’s lackey, mayor of the village where the the Prime Minister was born. He is everything but a civil entrepreneur. Their relationship is a secret and an open gossip at the same time – but it is truly not a fairy tale that he won 225 milliard HUF public procurement in 2016.

7.Disssipating EU subsidies

It has become clear that Hungary lost its chance in this EU cycle. Fidesz channels the funds arriving for economic and social development to its own hinterland – without any economically or developmentally rational conception. Not overthought expansion started some time ago, not in 2016. The problem is well illustrated with the fact that many otherwise quiet MPs canvass with EU tenders. The Parliament has given out Roland Mengyi’s legislative immunity, he is under prosecution. There is a suspicion that he took a bribe for mediating EU tenders, while he liked to be called ‘Voldemort’. In spite of this case no investigation started how to stop dissipating these funds.

8. The National Bank Scandal

‘But have we succeeded?’ in Matolcsy György’s opinion it was perfectly appropriate to spend the money non-transparently for his crowd, without public procurement – and the government declares it is none of his business to interfere with the operation of the independent bank of issue. The Public Procurement Arbitration Board has imosed 84 million Ft-s fine in 66 cases, but the Public Prosecutor’s Office made no investigation. The Constitutional Court has discarded the petition aiming to make the operation of the Pallas Athene Funds secretive. So matolcsy György’s secretive work is what it is: distracted public money.

9. Spéder is out of favor

The most surprising  turnaround of last year was the out-of-the-blue kickout of Spéder Zoltán Fidsz-related banker. There has been success-stories about  before about the integration of cooperative banks, but Sándor Demján convinced the Prime Minister that there is corruption in which Spéder gained  a great potency with governmental  support. Well, this method has been a main characteristic not only of  Spéderer in the last few years.

10. Real estate much below market price legally 

Since the regime change there has been a continuous real estate corruption not only in Budapest. The summit of it is Antal Rogán’s leadership in the fifth district of Budapest, but there are two more examples from the first (the mayor and his wife as well) and ninth districts lacking moderation. Last year the Office of the Capital Prosecutor closed down the investigation of the ‘cases of city real estates’ that does not foresee a positive future in accountability with similar cases.



What is going on in this country?


The things written above present a small margin of our 2016 corruption library. There were others, like the Orbán-Simicska fight, the Vizoczky- and the Quaestor-story. The Budapest-Government battle has escalated – Árpád Habony, István Garancsi and other new fortune seekers showed up behind the decisions. There have been a big crowd of interested people in good positions around the metro-substitution bus-tender, but the reconstruction has not started yet.

The Hungarian Commercial Bank has been sold, we do not even suspect the political relations behind the scenes. The intensive public spending on the Fina World Championship preparation is already four times bigger than expected. The sixtieth anniversary of the ’56 Revolution the Government supported outstandingly generously. Mária Schmidt, Government Commissioner of the Anniversary promised a trendy and fancy memorial, but instead the ‘fish-smell’ PR song worth of a 49 million Ft support, not speaking about other suspicious spendings, seemed rather embarrassing instead of being sexy.

We spent a huge amount from public money on representation – one significant example of the so called memorial-political destruction is the Castle reconstruction that you can follow in our database. A touristic railway-line was built last year in the home-village of Orbán, Felcsút, which seemed totally unnecessary in the light of the number of visitors – in spite of which the Prime Minister is planning to extend it replying the critical voices. It is also last year that the strange renting of paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts emerged as well as the 4 milliard worth ‘Századvég’ studies – the close-to-government institute for two years managed to temporize the performance

The Puskás Academy still refuses to provide information about the milliards spent on he support given from corporate taxes. With one exception investigations of the National Prosecutor’s Office based on the accusation made by András Horváth were put to an end because of lack of crime. The Sukoró litigation’s two main culprits were released. One of the initiators of the privatization of lands received lands himself – as it turned out at The Dawn of Asset Declarations last January. The scandals around the National Roma Municipality were smoothed away by the Government with paying off the huge end-of-year debt of the organization.2016 started with the inexplicable interference of the state in the Ákos-Telekom fight, then in February Mrs. Erdősi and her bold guards drove a nail to the coffin of democracy.

We wish you strength and perseverance to all those risking their convenience and existence continue to take action for the sake of common good.