Budapest Mayor Gábor Demszky: "I was Building a city, and now I want to build a country."

Mayor Gábor Demszky enters national politics
"Now I want to build a country..."

By Andrew Princz
Reporting from Budapest for ontheglobe.com

Budapest Mayor Gábor Demszky is used to waiting. Now, Mr. Demszky is still on the sidelines. This time, however, he is hoping to become the next Prime Minister of Hungary. A member of the democratic opposition movement under the former Communist system, Demszky's early professional life included the publication and dissemination of independent underground papers, promoting independent ideas and change. After the sweeping systemic changes of a decade ago, he was elected Mayor of Budapest for the first time in 1990, under the slogan, "we know, we dare, and we perform."

He subsequently went on to maintain his position as Mayor throughout the last decade, promising to return the city to its former glory as a flourishing European metropolis, a position it held at the turn of the nineteenth century, Budapest's Golden Age. After a period of cold relations between the central government and the City of Budapest, Mr. Demszky has decided to undertake the leadership of his party, the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ). It is time, he thinks, to apply his decade-long experience in city politics and take his battles to the national level. "I was building a city, and now I want to build a country," said Mr. Demszky.

Andrew Princz: In addition to your role as the Mayor of Budapest, you recently accepted the leadership of the Alliance of Free Democrats party (SZDSZ). How will you be able to tend to this dual role?

Gábor Demszky: I felt that if I did not accept the challenge, there was a danger that the party would have disappeared from Parliament, since even the five percent minimum vote would have been optimistic for us to achieve. I also wanted to give a case for the renewal of the Party. While for even a normal person, sometimes being a mayor could be too big a task, I think that this was a very special situation. The position was offered to me many times in the past, and I finally realized that there was no other solution.

Andrew Princz: What are the implications for the City of Budapest in the recent cuts in financing, implemented by the central government?

Gábor Demszky: The central government has cut HUF 20 million from our budget, and that is very dangerous. It is more than simply HUF 20 million, but a cut to our yearly allocations, and perhaps more. Because of this, our chances of getting good long-term loans and to realize our investments are greatly diminished. As a result, we end up losing our ability to get loans in the value of some HUF 250 million.

Andrew Princz: You have publicly accused the central government of intentionally wanting to strangle the capital city.

Gábor Demszky: The central government does not want to see success or investments in Budapest. In this way, politics has become more important. I think that in 2002 we need to start to clean up the ruins that have been left behind. Simply ruins. They do not build the country, they don't invest, they don't build roads or much needed infrastructure. In addition, they also prohibit us from doing just that. So that way, we cannot realize our programs in the way we planned, because we have much less funds. That is why I decided to go into national politics, because they want to ruin my city. I can't challenge these actions as a mayor, and I can only do it in national politics. I have to step up to that level.

Andrew Princz: What will be the basis of your campaign?

Gábor Demszky: We were successful in the city, which is very dynamic and rapidly developing. We want to repeat this success story for the country. I was building a city and now I want to build a country, that's the message.

Andrew Princz: Were you to be successful, in all likelihood, you could only govern under a coalition government. The SZDSZ has suffered, however, from some negative conceptions from the last coalition with the former Socialist government. At this point, what's the plan in terms of potential coalition partners?

Gábor Demszky: First of all, we have a good program that our Party Congress accepted. We do believe that we can form a government program out of it. Although it will be difficult, I do want to realize that program, and I want to promise, and realize these promises. With whom, is a secondary question. If my policies are accepted, I can make and form an alliance with anybody, except the extreme right and extreme left.

Andrew Princz: Who is the extreme right and extreme left?

Gábor Demszky: The Hungarian Justice and Life Party (MIÉP) and the Workers Party. Theoretically, we could even make an alliance with the Conservative party, but not the Alliance of Young Democrats (FIDESZ), not in its present form, or with Viktor Orbán. But there are politicians in the Conservative party that I can imagine cooperating with, like Ibolya Dávid, Péter Tölgyessy, or Iván Szabó. If they could be my partners it could theoretically work, and I do not exclude these kinds of allies. In the present context, when FIDESZ is posturing us not as a main rival, but as a main enemy, and is spreading a polluting policy concerning the city, there is no chance for an alliance. But I would not say that it could not happen with the Socialist party. I can imagine that we will be the opposition, and if we are strong enough, meaning we achieve 15% of the votes, which is what I want, then we can cooperate with those forces that accept our program.

Andrew Princz: What issues will be the main focus of your campaign?

Gábor Demszky: Number one is transparency and good government, in the sense of the fair spending of government money. The second focus is to implement an anti-discrimination policy, providing equal opportunities for people. We will focus on that issue because there is a very serious age and sex discrimination on the market. If you are over 40, you have a very good chance of becoming a victim of such discrimination, especially if you are in the commercial sector and not in public service. Between one and one and a half million people are potential victims of such discrimination.

We want to widen the conditions of the free market and to guarantee long-term loans in the field of economy. We will see how to fight inflation, how to decrease the tax burden and how to guarantee that more money stays in the hands of the producers of that money, with less money being taken away by government or local government. This means less tax, but also a more effective state with less tax, less intervention.

In those fields in which we have to focus, we must be more effective. We have to build a country to facilitate integration into Europe, and for that you need to provide resources. My staff and I have made the city successful with the policies that we implemented. We very much focus on issues, and developing infrastructure. Now the city is competing with other international cities, and so, simply, I want to take my policies from the city to the national level. What I learned in the city, I want to exercise on the national level.

* Andrew Princz (Copyright 2001, All Rights Reserved)
* Photos: Bela Szandelszky (Copyright 2001, All Rights Reserved)