A quarter of a year after the triumphant election victory, Orbán’s cabinet started to tighten its belts. However, this is the exact opposite of what he promised in the campaign, when he bought the favor of the voters by lavishly handing out public money.
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The intensification of the protests was caused by the fact that President Katalin Nováková signed the relevant law on Monday.
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Wake up, Hungary! Péter Márki-Zay, the unsuccessful opposition candidate for Prime Minister in the April elections
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The opposition movement Momentum immediately called for a protest in front of the president’s residence on Buda’s castle hill, but the police did not let them go there.
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Promises, Promises
Hundreds of protesters disrupted traffic on Budapest’s Margaret Bridge on Monday. The protesters then marched through the city chanting the slogans “Orbán, disappear” and “Dirty FIDESZ”. In Szeged, protesters occupied a bridge in the city center.
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“They pulled us by the nose, they promised mountains and mines, an island of peace in the middle of the world’s turmoil, and now we, the small businessmen, will pay the price,” said László, who makes a living by delivering food. “The president signed a law that is disadvantageous for us, and she knew it well. This shows that he is still a person close to Prime Minister Orbán’s FIDESZ party, even though he is supposed to be non-partisan in his position,” said hairdresser Éva.
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Opposition: The government lies from morning to night
Among the political parties, the most active liberal movement Momentum and the recessive Party of the Two-Tailed Dog stand out. “The government threatens the survival of thousands of small entrepreneurs. After the April elections, Orbán promised peace and stability, but now we see that he has caused insecurity and impoverishment,” Momentum said in a statement. Péter Márki-Zay, the unsuccessful opposition candidate for prime minister in April’s election, said at a protest in Budapest that it didn’t take long for life to reveal all the lies Orbán used before the election.
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| What is changing |
| The protests were sparked by the adjustment of the flat tax for self-employed people and small entrepreneurs. |
| If the business is not the main earning activity for the entrepreneur, he has paid 25 thousand forints (about 1500 crowns) per month. |
| From the first of September, a monthly tax of 50,000 forints (three thousand crowns) applies to all self-employed persons. |
| Only entrepreneurs providing services to individuals, not companies, can use the flat-rate tax. |
| The only exception will be taxi drivers. |
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He compared Orbán’s announcement of austerity measures to a speech by then-Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány in 2006, which was followed by mass protests. Gyurcsány then declared in front of his fellow party members on a recording that became public: “We lied from morning to night.” Márki-Zay said that Orbán exposed himself for good. “You walk around with a water jug for so long that your ear is torn off. Orbán lies from morning to night. Wake up, Hungary!” he added.
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