Now at least for some four, maybe eight years, Hungary is in a state of 'cold civil war'. Meaning there are two political camps, which for long relied on polarisation of the electorate, and for long have abandoned the unwritten rules of democracy. This was driven by the right-wing block, which doesn't excuse the left-wing block's mirroring, but the right-wing went further: by integrating the far-right, playing with fire.
What we saw this night is only the latest escalation of a long-running (far)right-wing protest "culture", which included lots of angry protests with revolutionary rhetoric, disrupting election events and even public ceremonies, and a number of previous attempts at idiots' revolution. For example four years ago, when the right-wing claimed election fraud (despite having been in government), some loons closed off a bridge over the Danube for a day, calling for Parliament's takeover, and were then dispersed by police.
More on that below, here the conclusion is: there is indeed a moral and political crisis, but it is wider and exists for longer.
Now for the elections. If you check my coverage (all linked back from the last diary), two things should transpire that modify IdiotSavant's characterisation: (1) that the government was lying was an open secret obvious to anyone who looked at the (economic) facts (I predicted 'reforms'), (2) the election campaign was totally disconnected from reality on both sides, with the opposition promising 14th-month pensions for retirees and Slovakian-style tax cuts at the same time.
Gyurcsány's "we lied" speech should be put in context. It was at a party conference a month after the elections. Gyurcsány, a former Party Youth cadre turned millionaire businessman turned politician is more (neo)liberal than his party, and this speech was aimed at pushing back any resistance to his 'reforms'. Someone recorded it with not the simplest tools, and timed the leak to the 100th day of the new government. PM Gyurcsány and Socialist Party bosses were all over the media within hours of the leak, issuing the "yes we lied, and now we cut the spirale of lies, we're proud" rhetoric, while the main opposition party, the right-populist Fidesz seemed in disarray. Thus it is not only possible that the leak came from within the Socialists, but some speculate that it was a cunning strategy from the leadership itself.
At any rate, on Sunday and yesterday, the right-wing street protesters came out in cities across Hungary, a hard core of some 500 maintaining a permanent protest before Parliament. The hard core means people like:
Various flag-wavers (the flag in front has the white-red stripes of an onetime royal flag that was re-used by the WWII-time Hungarian fascists [Arrowcrossers], and the outline of pre-1918 Hungary):
Mostly university student youth aligned with the far-right irredentist group "Sixty-four Shires Youth Movement" [reference to the 64 shires of pre-1918 Hungary], guys like these:
People from the football hooligan-skinhead nexus:
Yesterday/today night, with some 10,000 supporters, in an idiots' copy of the events of 1956 (when revolutionaries took over state media - but now we have private media too), they moved over to the public television building and stormed it, with inept police reacting too late and chaotically. Given the football hooligan element, it shall come as no surprise that rooms in three stories of the building were ransacked, and six cars were burned or overturned.
What shoud be worrying is the integration of "civilised" right-wingers (like the 10,000 cheering on the rioters, and the right-wing private news TV covering the events) with these far-right rioters (a few hundred). On the other hand, one word from right-wing leader Orbán would be enough to get hundreds of thousands on the street, but he won't risk that, the ghosts he called are too scary even for him, just like four years ago. So there is no direct threat to democracy, instead the 'cold civil war' will continue in a hollow democracy. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Franco was famously filled the Plaza de Oriente for patriotic rallies with a "bus and sandwich" strategy. Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. — Euripides
BTW it happened multiple times earlier that right-wing peasants came up to Budapest with or without their tractors, for a protest rally or blockade. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
issuing the "yes we lied, and now we cut the spirale of lies, like everyone else for 7-8 years, we're proud" rhetoric
...
but some speculate that it was a cunning strategy from the leadership itself. For, overall, the "now we cut the bullshit and speak honestly" rhetoric may be sellable to the majority and thus even help the PM.
... On the other hand, one word from right-wing leader Orbán would be enough to get hundreds of thousands on the street, but he won't risk that, because the pro-revolution masses of the most faithful aren't the majority, and the ghosts he called are too scary even for him, just like four years ago. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Budapest elected the same (liberal) major on the four previous occasions, but the man grew grey in the job by now, and got into some troubles. So the right-wing candidate Tarlós, who was a district major and who runs officially as an independent (without Fidesz's emblem on his campaign posters), but who is a law-and-order populist and power-hungry in the style of French right-wing Presidential hopeful Sarkozy, pulled equal in the polls.
Tarlós' reaction to the riots was tortured: he previously accepted the endorsement of his candidacy by another major far-right youth group: Jobbik, a short for right-wing youth community that also reads "the right one", with both meanings; they used to be Fidesz-aligned, but ran with a small far-right party in the elections. They too participated in the events, so Tarlós had to say that 'people are right to protest, but not right to attack policemen and destroy property, so if it is proved that Jobbik guys are responsible for breaking policemen's shields, I'll reject their endorsement'. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
(English "major" is a military position--"Sergeant Major", etc.) Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.
When I heard the same media version on the radio this morning I felt I had to check this on European Tribune. And sure enough this is the only paper that is sure to have knowledgeable correspondents in Budapest. A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!
I'll echo that thanks - the reason I posted here was precisely to see if someone local would pop out of the woodwork with better information. And as a result, I've learned a lot more about Hungarian politics...
But in Paris, the (very efficient) street cleaning staff are right behind the riot police... In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
*Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
* There were again protests by a few hundred right-wingers in various countryside cities. Currently, the crowd before Parliament swelled again to around 3,000 (same as last night at this time). International media camped down, waiting for them to make trouble. This is how it looked a few hours ago - small crowd cordoned off on one side:
* Some new polls on the "we lied" speech: there is no absolute majority for resignation, while relative majority is inconclusive (Fidesz-aligned local branch of Gallup found one for resignation, Socialist-aligned Ipsos one against). But a near 60% majority wants "consequences". *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
The only TV with a crew on site of the storming was the aforementioned right-wing private news TV, HírTV. Imagine if Fox News would try to appear serious like BBC, but with a great lack of professionalism (including the quality of graphics). On one hand, being exclusive, all other Hungarian channels and BBC rebroadcast their live feed. What the BBC probably didn't notice was that HírTV reporters on the ground and anchors were cheerleading for the "revolutionary youth", even admonishing police for not caring enough for their safety while they threw stones at police (one policeman's skull was broken and is still in critical situation).
The state TV boss drew consequences today by ordering out a HírTV crew rom the building when they came for a press conference... *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
