Vadasz said on Facebook that he had long been contemplating how long he could continue to serve as deputy mayor "given the way Gergely Kovacs leads our district".

He added that after the mayor had submitted a motion to remove him from office to the city council for the second time, it became clear to him that Kovacs did not feel in the least responsible for the deterioration of their working relationship.

"He does not wish to resolve our professional disagreements through dialogue, but rather to settle them by removing me from office, and to this end, he is prepared to form a grand coalition with Fidesz and [Democratic Coalition] DK," he said.

He added that his only "crime" had been insisting on professionally sound decisions on numerous issues, from the planned kindergarten closures to real estate management. "But in response, I received blackmail, threats, and personal attacks," he added.

Vadasz accused Kovacs of having abandoned his own principles, and "one of the district's greatest exposers of corruption became an opponent of transparency."

He noted that Kovacs held fewer and fewer resident forums and failed to address substantive issues, adding: "I saw how the mayor's authoritarian decision-making overrode professional considerations and the public interest."

Vadasz assured residents that they could continue to count on him as their representative and that he would do everything to uphold the principles he and Kovacs had once championed together.

The 12th district's local government announced on its Facebook page that the council would hold an extraordinary meeting on July 23 at the initiative of the legal and procedural committee.

The meeting's agenda includes two items: the first is a proposal by Mayor Kovacs to withdraw Vadasz's deputy mayor mandate and replace him with Tibor Pasztor.

The second item is a motion by council member Piroska Visi (Hegyvidék Future Association) regarding Kovacs's alleged misconduct.

The legal committee has recommended rejecting the motion, as its investigation found no grounds for misconduct.

Photo courtesy: Vadász Gábor / Facebook

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881.

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