A "New Majority" Has Been Born - Summary of Viktor Orbán's State of the Nation Speech

Created: 28th September, 2007 14:47 | Last updated: 8th November, 2007 20:01	print	send

"In 2006, it has become clear that it had been the socialist government that drove Hungary into an economic crisis, and instead of accepting the responsibility for doing so, their lies will have to be paid for by the very people they had deceived", said Viktor Orbán, chairman of Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Union at the beginning of his traditional state of the nation speech on 16, February.

He went on to ask why it is always the defenseless people who have to pay. "It is time for a change", reasserted Mr Orbán, and called for a more equitable solution: "Let the liars pay first!"

The leader of the greatest opposition party qualified the "new Hungarian left" as unscrupulous, greedy and shrill. "We have come to understand that the courage of the new left is in reality wantonness, its élan is bullying and its altruism is greed." He then repeated that Hungary in 2006 was dominated by this unscrupulousness, greed and shrill.

"The fours years between 2002 and 2006 meant in fact an interim period, when the old left slowly withdrew while the new rose to power. We have now learned the anatomy of this new left", concluded the chairman of Fidesz and added that first the Hungarian Socialist Party, then the entire country had actually fallen prey to this politics of uninhibited greed. In spite of this, the former prime minister declared that "we have good reason to maintain our confidence in politics: we have already proved once that an apt government pursuing sensible policies is able to cut prices, reduce unemployment and bring the possibility of everyone having their own homes within reach, and organise public services in an intelligent way. The right has good reasons to believe in politics".

Mr Orbán stated that the overwhelming victory of Fidesz at the local elections [held in October last year], along with the numerous and nationwide mass demonstrations all proved that "a new majority has been born" as an opposition to the "new aristocracy" and that the "old majority, held together by lies, is long gone".

"In order to leave the past behind, we first have to name those responsible for the current situation and impose the punishment they deserve upon them", he said, since "damaging a country, our country, should not go unpunished. Without that, the past cannot be done, there can be no new beginning, we cannot work together".

The chairman of Fidesz emphasized that he believed only justness could bring peace and cooperation. "We are ready to work with anyone but only after the slates had been wiped clean", he said.

The former PM said that the state of Hungary was not improving; on the contrary, it was deteriorating faster as public debt keeps on rising at an ever higher pace.

Referring to the recent events, Viktor Orbán said that Hungarians should not accept being terrorised by the extremists as in reality the alleged threat of terrorism and bogus attacks were all the trickery of the government. He added that this has been the case ever since the "new left" took the stage and rendered fear an integral part of the government's politics. "It is unacceptable that the socialists have put the police in the service of their political interests", Mr Orbán added, referring to the brutal police misconduct on 23, October last year.

"No democrat can question the right to organize political events on the streets", he declared.

The chairman of Fidesz ended his speech by concluding that "We live in one country, we depend on one another, and therefore the new majority has to work together: we have but one flag as Hungary is our country, all of us must strive to make it a better place."

fidesz.hu