Most participants shared the view at the first session that replacing the incumbent Orbán government would not go far enough, and a complete overhaul of the system Orbán created was necessary.

They said their aim is to restore democracy and the Hungarian republic, draft a new election law, eliminate child poverty and ensure a fairer distribution of the country’s wealth.

Sociologist Zsuzsa Ferge insisted that DEKA was not meant to function as an organisation but rather as “a roundtable for discussion”. László Kálmán, a linguist, wanted it to turn into a political party to compete in the 2018 general election.

Zsolt Gréczy, spokesman for the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK), insisted that Hungary is “in deeper trouble today” than could have been anticipated in 2010.

Democratic freedoms have been lost, and these will be difficult to restore knowing that Fidesz “party soldiers” with long mandates have been installed in institutions which are meant to provide checks and balances, he said.

A former senior lawmaker of the now-defunct conservative MDF party, Károly Herényi, said that a “sick society was the defective product of Fidesz”. He added that a priority should be to change the election law, which he said was skewed towards Fidesz.

The roundtable was initiated by Ferge, Methodist minister Gábor Iványi, former tax auditor and whistleblower András Horváth and journalist Zoltán Lovas.

In a paper published before their press conference, they declared that Hungary is on the verge of a social, political and economic crisis and social tensions may boil over.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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