Party leader Péter Juhász told a press conference that “in a normal world” wages for managers at state-owned companies should be adjusted to the market but in Prime Minister “Viktor Orbán’s regime”, it is not performance or expertise but loyalty to ruling Fidesz which determines the salaries.

Green opposition LMP member Gábor Vágó, who initiated the referendum, told the same press conference that the issue highlights “the greatest problem in Hungarian society”, tension between wages.

Top managers of state-owned companies make up to 5 million forints (EUR 16,200) a month, while half of Hungarians get less than 100,000 forints, he added.

ágó said there are 120 days to collect the 200,000 signatures for the referendum to be called. Previously, the opposition Socialists, LMP, Párbeszéd and the satirical Kétfarkú Kutya (Two-tailed Dog) party said that the would join the initiative but they will start collecting signatures at a later date.

The question submitted for the referendum and passed by the supreme court Kúria says “Do you agree that the yearly income earned in employment with a state-owned company should not exceed the yearly salary of the president of the republic?”

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