Ambrus Kiss

If elected on Nov 27, they would take up their post on the same day.


Dávid Vitézy

According to the mayor's proposal, the deputy mayors would be entitled to receiving a monthly pay of 1,350,000 forints which is 90 percent of the mayor's salary.

Budapest assembly removes vote on deputy mayors from Wednesday's agenda

Budapest's city assembly removed from the agenda a vote on the city's deputy mayors from its session.

The removal was proposed by Richard Barabas, group leader of Parbeszed-Greens, and was adopted with 18 votes for, one against and three abstentions. In a debate before the vote, Barabas said "there seems to be no consensus" concerning the candidates.

Gergely Karacsony, Budapest's mayor, has proposed Ambrus Kiss, director-general of the mayor's office, and David Vitezy, group leader of the Podmaniczky Movement, for the posts.

Alexandra Szentkiralyi, group leader of the ruling parties, slammed the proceedings and called the vote's postponement "unserious".

"The left-liberal majority has the power to elect" those officials, she said, and decried that "a rainbow coalition ... as reflected in the nominations for deputy mayor" was forming in the assembly.

In his response, Tisza's Aron Porcher said his party had not proposed the voting order and that the decision was up to the mayor.

Karacsony said his task was to support the assembly's decision-making and he had proposed the voting order "aware of that responsibility" and in a transparent manner. He added that "most groups have no objections" to the procedure.

Krisztina Baranyi of the satirical Two-Tailed Dog Party and mayor of the ninth district, regretted that the vote was removed from the agenda and warned that the continued failure to elect the deputy mayors could lead to the assembly's dissolution. She said the situation should be resolved not only by the mayor but also by the largest groups in the assembly.

Meanwhile, the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) said it would submit an amendment to the 2025 budget, saying that it was designed to introduce austerity measures concerning Budapest and other municipalities.

DK's MP Erzsebet Gy Nemeth said the government had "geared up tangibly in its effort to destroy Budapest", adding that her party would "not let that happen".

In its proposal, DK would reduce the solidarity tax imposed on larger municipalities to the 2019 level of an annual 10 billion forints while calling for a grant of 200 billion forints for Budapest to buy new suburban train carriages. Also, the tax on vehicles "should be given back to Budapest" and be used exclusively for road repairs, according to DK.

MTI Stock Photo - for illustrative purposes only

Source: 
MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881.

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