He said the national consultation started by his party had been successful, adding that some 200,000 households had taken part in it. Addressing the state of Hungary’s health care and education, which had been key topics in Jobbik’s national consultation, Vona said the biggest issues in those two sectors were not structural ones but rather that they were both underfinanced.

He said this was related to corruption, arguing that corruption drained vital resources from the state budget. Vona also assessed the migration situation, which he said had reached a turning point in 2016. While the government had “swept every issue under migration” throughout the year, by the autumn it had become clear that it was impossible to govern on this issue alone, Vona said.

He said Hungary was in need of “full and real protection” which also “rids the country of residency bonds”. The party’s board will discuss the issue of presidential nomination in January, he said, adding that Jobbik was sticking to its position that voters should be able to elect the president directly.

Vona called President János Áder an “appointee of the prime minister”, adding that the nomination of Human Resources Minister Zoltán Balog as Áder’s successor would be “another downhill step”.

He welcomed the move to raise minimum wages, but warned against being “overly excited” by the increase, arguing that the issue of low minimum wages had needed to be addressed anyway.

Vona criticised the government’s payroll tax cuts, arguing that it would only benefit corporations and that the government should have reduced payroll taxes for small and medium-sized companies.

He said his party would launch a European citizens’ initiative for a “European wage union” so that the principle of “equal pay for equal work” is cemented among the bloc’s fundamental principles.

Asked about several LMP politicians’ refusing to work together with Jobbik, Vona said the two parties had never discussed the possibility of forming a coalition, adding, however that Jobbik and LMP have a constructive and good relationship allowing them to engage in intelligent debates.

He said Jobbik and LMP have a common desire “to be free of the 20th century”. Asked to comment on opinion polls still showing a commanding lead for the ruling Fidesz party, Vona said the polls did not reflect the way the Hungarian people think about politics.

Fidesz responded to Vona’s press conference saying that the Jobbik leader had “joined the platform” of leftist Democratic Coalition leader Ferenc Gyurcsány when he rejected the government-initiated constitutional amendment proposal on banning the resettlement of foreign nationals in Hungary.

“Vona should conduct a self-assessment and look his voters in the eye now that it has become clear that he is capable of anything for power and continuously turns his back not just on Jobbik’s earlier positions but on national issues, too,” Fidesz said in a statement.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.

MTI photo: Soós Lajos