It is now considered a cliché among analysts that in election campaigns, the formulation of a social message that can be experienced, with which the electorate can identify, is much more likely to lead to results than elaborate election programs. Fidesz has long since replaced the complicated and lengthy programming by making “we continue” public news. In the next local government campaign, Alexandra Szentkirályi, the candidate for mayor of the ruling party, made only a short, seven-point commitment.
Dávid Vitézy chose a more sophisticated solution than this, who positioned himself in the political space by proclaiming professionalism above parties and by rejecting fights between parties. In the case of the conflicting public conditions in Budapest, there may indeed be a social demand for this third-way policy. Vitézy, however, undertook much more than this at today’s program briefing campaign event.
Real city management instead of party political battles! With this slogan, he announced his candidacy with Dávid Vitézy for Budapest and as a joint candidate of the LMP just a month ago.
We are happy to see all representatives of the press
– pointed out to the Fidesz candidate, Alexandra Szentkirályi, who did not allow employees of several newspapers to enter the campaign launch.
He justified his departure by saying that, according to his experience, no one deals with the real problems. City politics has turned into complaints and an empty competition for likes. He and his team therefore have no less than 101 points program were compiled. He asked the people of Budapest to demand that it be fulfilled.
After that, the specialist just poured out the details that the There is much more to this city started a train of thought. According to him, there is no, there can be no explanation for the empty, closed shops, the cars parked in public squares, the closed Danube bank. Creativity should be given much more space.
He drew attention to the fact that Budapest does not only consist of the inner city, while the outsiders have been left alone by politics. He therefore recommended that all development resources should not go to the tourist city center.
He and his team checked which points of Gergely Karácsony’s program were not fulfilled. Although the EU funds are indeed frozen, and the government has limited the development resources, there is still no park in the courtyard of the City Hall, only a gravel parking lot – this showed the inaction of the reigning city administration.
How did we get here?
he asked the question.
There is not a single major investment in the pipeline, in which of course the government has the primary responsibility, but in a city of this size, at least 10 major investments should take place. In comparison, not a single new plan has been created in the last five years. On the other hand, Tibor Draskovits (former minister of the Gyurcsány government) came to head the BKK, and everything started to talk about national politics. Budapest has become a battleground between the government and the opposition, “where in one corner stands Minister János Lázár, who suspends development, and in the other stands Mayor Karácsony, who shouts anti-Budapest and casts himself as a victim.” This is a comfortable position for both parties, but it takes the focus away from the real work. Vitézy gave the example of grass trams as to why it is necessary to exceed the why can’t it be his policy. At the time, everyone insisted that this idea was impossible in the Hungarian capital.
There are not five more years for Gyurcsányozás and Lázár’s neglect of the city, he underlined.
In the framework of panel rehabilitation, he promised energy modernization and that the built heritage would be protected so that it would not be “touristized”. They are also starting a service rental housing program, because currently the people who live here have to pay for housing at Vienna prices from Pécs salaries. They will start building 10,000 new service and rental apartments in the next cycle. The rust zone would be used for this.
He called the nearly two dozen traffic junctions, the condition of which does not encourage travel, as the pain points of public transport, and he will renew them. If Dávid Vitézy is elected, he also promised further electricity network developments. He would also launch a new tram tender, and he also undertook that every line, every second tram, would be barrier-free.
The state must also fight for the development of HÉVs, an essential part of which is the replacement of vehicles. He therefore asks the state to put the railway at the service of the people of Budapest.
In addition to the expansion of the electricity network, 24-hour operation on the bus network would be introduced on the backbone network. Within five years, a third of the bus fleet will be electric, and a new express bus network connecting the suburbs will also be created. Certain elements of bicycle transport would definitely be revised, because the poles currently visible are half-solutions and cannot remain in this form. Bubi would be extended to the outer districts as well.
He promised young people 24/7 subways on Fridays and Saturdays.
It would also introduce unified parking, as it is nonsense that this task is now carried out by private service providers at a high price, maintaining the fragmented, murky system that is divided into districts. As the elected mayor, he will use the right of referral to achieve this.
One of his undertakings is to increase the scale of renovation of the Budapest road network tenfold. The entire cross-section of Rákóczi út – Kossuth Lajos utca will be renovated, primarily with EU funds.
In response to the six-hour wait in the emergency department of the Defense Hospital, he announced that he would stand up for the people of Budapest, that is, he wants to ensure that anyone with a Budapest address card can receive treatment in any hospital.
I’ll go after the health government until I get that.
He also reminded that János Lázár stopped all hospital development, while the Budapest city administration had not a word to say about it. These developments must be restarted.
Make Budapest much more user-friendly!
In order to do this, Vitézy came up with a number of ideas. In order to make the swimming pools even more resident-friendly, a common, easily searchable database would be created, which would reveal when and under what conditions they can be used.
From 2028, according to his vision, only electric taxis could be put into circulation, and the delivery of small goods could only be carried out with small electric cars in the future.
He also had ideas in the matter of providing for the homeless, the focus of which is to prevent them from ending up on the streets. The current reason for this is to be found in the shortcomings of the network of child protection institutions. In this area, the politician would also look for a solution to the special needs of those who have recently reached the age of majority.
In the field of animal protection, he would launch a comprehensive neutering program and establish a new animal protection center and shelter, but not on Illatos út, but in another location, and what’s more, they would also establish 24-hour veterinary call points throughout the city.
The issue of harassment of passengers has come up again: on average, 60-70 incidents occur on public transport vehicles per month. 83 percent of residents agree with the establishment of the BKK police.
Less Tibor Draskovics, more municipal police – summed up the message.
From 2025, a HUF 10,000 culture coupon would be introduced to all Budapest residents with a registered address, with which they could first visit institutions maintained by the capital, and later also those maintained by the state. The discounts of the Zsigmondy card, which allows visiting the spas, would be extended so that the spas tailored to the wallets of foreign tourists can also be used by local residents at certain times at reduced prices. It would also put an end to the renovation ordeal of Rác and Király baths.
Dávid Vitézy once again mentioned the issue of the amusement park, which was closed 11 years ago, noting that he does not agree with those who think there are more important things than this. You can imagine its reopening in northern Csepel, or on the other side of the Danube, or even in Rákosrendező. It would attract foreign investment capital for the development.
According to his view, the excessive investment of the Biodóm has reached the point of irreversibility, and although the situation is largely the responsibility of István Tarlós, the government cannot help but provide funds for its completion. For this, the construction plans must be prepared as soon as possible to find out how much it will cost.
It would liberate the inner Danube bank. As he said, the plans have been drawn up for 10 years, while there is no connected footpath on it. He would span the gaps that hinder pedestrian access with footbridges at different points of the city, and he would simply unload the hotel boats from the most valuable parts of the Danube.
Dávid Vitézy concluded his overwhelming speech by saying that a new chapter must be opened in the relationship between the government and the capital, returning to his earlier line of thinking that more can be achieved if the development of the capital is determined in relation to the Budapest-government relationship, rather than in the Budapest-opposition context.
Let’s put Budapest on the map, be competitive with the big cities of the region!
– gave impetus to Vitézy’s campaign, which will officially start on April 20.
(Cover photo: Dávid Vitézy on April 19, 2024. Photo: Péter Papajcsik / Index)
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