A few weeks ago, Orbán met the students of a politologist. He was surprisingly open about his views. He was full of self-confidence/self-praise/hubris, he used some strong language about the current PM - and also talked about his plans for when he gets back in power in 2010.

Orbán suggested that in the first two years, "a lot of people will be hurt in many ways". For after the two hard years, Orbán projected the standard right-wing programme of helping the middle-class and those active in the labour force. As for those beyond - pensions would be freezed.

So an austerity programme, and worse than what they opposed the current government in. And current retired and otherwise inactive supporters be damned. In fact, he cynically said that he didn't really want to win in 2006 (when he promised all kinds of spending, including a 14th-month pension), knowing the bad state of the economy; and that he thinks that after four years of talk from Gyurcsány about how bad the economy is, people will accept the austerity programme from him.

Government supporters and neoliberals took this as another proof that, you guessed it, "there is no alternative" to the 'reforms'...

Orbán also said he'd stop major state spending, and re-start only if re-negotiation gets at much lower prices: he named highway construction (well I'd support that actually) and the over-budget Budapest subway line 4. On the latter, he thinks Russian firms would have done it much cheaper; and he wants Chinese, Arab and Russian capital - funny contrast with recent anti-Gazprom rhetoric.

Orbán also mentioned the far-right paramilitary, the Hungarian Guard: he thinks the solution is more policemen in the countryside, and he would do with the Guard what Horthy [between-world-wars head of state] did to the Arrowcrossers [hardcore Hungarian fascists]: "give them two slaps, and hunt them home". [Note that later on, the Nazis blackmailed Horthy into making the Arrowcrosser leader PM.] So police is only evil if you don't control it, and the far-right is untouchable only until voting day.

A final juicy tidbit: apparently, one of the politologist students caught Orbán exposing that he heard the tape of Gyurcsány's "I lied!" speech before it got into the media (but, ever the seasoned politician, Orbán reacted with "then maybe my memory is wrong [about the timeline]").

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Meanwhile, there is actually some shift away from neoliberalism: the new Socialist-only minority government (see diary on the break with the liberals) went on with 'reform'-stalling corrections in the wake of the referendum, and yesterday, parliament voted with four-party support (only the liberals against) to abolish most of the brand-new, not-yet-in-effect healthcare privatisation law.

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Another issue where I am closer to Fidesz rhetoric than so-called 'left-liberal' rhetoric and practice is opposition to police state measures. (A civil resistance act by Fidesz is referred to in this diary.)

The latest defeat of the police/government line on this front is a new ruling by the Constitutional Court.

Since the riots, police dispersed a number of protests on the basis that they weren't announced three days ahead; in accordance with the law on assembly (with the reasoning that police should have time organising security and traffic diversions). And not just rioting far-righters. (And they tolerated the anti-fascist protest, 'outraging' the fascists.) But today, the Constitutional Court annulled the section on the police obligation of automatic dispersal.

Meanwhile, the trial into the case of a high-profile case of police brutality ended without success.

As I reported, when police hunting far-right rioters proceeded to attack peaceful people leaving from Fidesz's mass rally on the 50th day of the 1956 Revolution, they also beat Fidesz member of parliament Máriusz Révész unconscious. The trial failed to find the then police bosses responsible, or to identify the policemen clubbing Révész.

Here is a video from Index, in which Révész comments an amateur video from the night; first he is seen walking towards police, then you see the last blow with the baton against the man lying on the pavement (but invisible because of other policemen arround), tovards the end Révész is again visible when trying to stand up. (I spare you a translation of Révész's commentary; he over-interprets the already damning images, with political overtones.)