A conservative’s wish list for Viktor Orbán’s third consecutive government

Milán Constantinovits is a columnist whose work often appears on the conservative Mandiner news site and he is also a linguist and an author. This week, he published a type of “wish list” of areas that he would like the third Orbán government to engage in as a matter of priority. I thought about referring to these as demands. Yet that does not seem appropriate given the fact that Hungarians, including the more politically moderate Fidesz supporters like Mr. Constantinovits, are in no position to demand anything from a ruling party that won a two-thirds majority and one that has shown little appetite for humility. As such, we have a conservative’s wish list and it is instructive in gleaning what those prone to support Fidesz, whilst still being capable of critical reflection, would like to see done differently.

Milán Constantinovits

1. Addressing corruption. This is the first priority on Mr. Constantinovits’ list. He speaks of public funds being transformed into the private wealth of those close to the levers of power, the creation of an inner circle of self-interest groups, as well as the unregulated and dubious spending of taxpayer funds on cultural and sports projects, and questionable corporate tax breaks.
2. Education. The quality of education in Hungarian and resources available in this sector have been decreasing, while the system created by Fidesz led to ineffective centralization and a lack of choice in areas such as the publication and distribution of textbooks. One must also mention the overbearing power of the Klebelsberg Centre (KLIK), the national agency that oversees and often controls the life of local schools–even in areas far better determined locally. Mr. Constantinovits also recognizes that leaders and key administrators in the field of education are often selected not based on their professional background, but rather based on the depth of their party loyalty. The Orbán government should address this, while also providing more support and incentives to bilingual schools.
3. Higher education. Once highly respected universities like ELTE, in Budapest, are falling behind, with reports that departments often don’t even have money to produce photocopies. A young assistant professor earns a miserable 147,000 forints per month (circa C$720). Well-functioning, properly funded higher education would make Hungary more competitive internationally.
4. Fair wages for those working in the fields of culture and research. Wages for university professors, researchers and those in the arts, humanities and social sciences are truly dismal in Hungary. In Canada, tenured professors in places like Ontario end up on the so-called Sunshine List–they make more than $100,000 per year, and often significantly more. In Hungary, a newly hired bus driver for the Budapest Transport Corporation earns more than an adjunct professor. An average bus driver in Budapest takes home just over 200,000 forints net per month (circa C$1,000). An adjunct professor’s take-home pay, in contrast, is 191,000 forints per month. This is not a new problem–in fact, in stretches back to the Kádár era. Mr. Constantinovits suggests cutting funding for dubious, “wannabe” researchers that are favoured by the government for their party loyalty and instead paying the talented ones fairly.
5. Health care. Hungary’s public health care system is in crisis. One of the priorities here is to address the catastrophic conditions in Hungarian emergency wards, while also curtailing the so-called “barons.” These include doctors who generate significant, non-taxed, under-the-table income through forced “tips” from patients. In Hungarian, this lurid system is called hálapénz, or gratitude money. It has nothing to do with gratitude. Patients are forced to pay doctors under-the-table in cash, before any procedure is performed, in order to receive medical care. Those who can’t pay find themselves at the bottom of the waiting list. Every medical procedure in Hungary is tied to gratitude money and virtually all doctors are complicit in expecting it. Nationally, an estimated 70 billion forints in gratitude money ends up in the pockets of doctors each year and is never taxed. It is an awful, inhumane system devoid of all compassion for the sick and while it did not start under Fidesz, in eight years the Orbán government has neglected to address it.
6. Party financing. One can argue about whether the 2018 election involved systemic fraudulent behaviour that helped give Mr. Orbán his two-thirds majority. But there is agreement across the spectrum that the election was poorly managed and was characterized by systemic human errors. In fact, the highest court has already ordered a recount in two voting stations and at least two more will be ordered in the coming days. Where recounts have taken place, human errors always seemed to disadvantage opposition parties. Mr. Constantinovits also refers to the state funding of bogus parties. This is a funding system that Fidesz devised and implemented, as part of electoral reforms aimed at keeping the party in power.
7. A long-term strategy for the Roma minority. Specific educational programs and investments in public education geared to the needs of the Roma need to be developed. This includes providing teachers that work in schools with large Roma student populations much better professional training. Mr. Constantinovits also speaks about the need to finally end segregation practices and to better integrate the Roma into the digital world.
8. The financing of Hungarians living abroad. Here, Mr. Constantinovits seems to think that is a good idea to continue sending lavish Hungarian government funding to Hungarians both in neighbouring countries and in the diaspora. We have demonstrated many times how these funds are often abused, how they are used for questionable projects and how they serve to buy votes for the ruling Fidesz party–and have been most successful in this regard (with 96% of Hungarians abroad who choose to vote casting ballots for Fidesz in 2018).

This is what a young Hungarian Fidesz supporter–one who is clearly articulate–would like to see from the third consecutive and overall the fourth Orbán government. Perhaps the party will heed the words of someone like Mr. Constantinovits who works within the regime, more so than those in the opposition or civil society who are vilified by it.