MPs argued fiercely in Parliament Tuesday over the interpretation of Sunday’s referendum and the future of health care. Opposition members reiterated their view that the shortfall caused by the vote against nominal medical fees should be made up from revenues from state gambling company Szerencsejáték. Socialist caucus leader Ildikó Lendvai replied that those funds have been earmarked in the budget for other things. She said the shortfall can only be made up by regrouping existing funds.
Fidesz shadow health minister István Mikola accused the government of wanting to punish people for the referendum result and of siphoning off funds from health care.
Health Minister Ágnes Horváth answered that the referendum has inflicted immediate damage on health. It is doctors, patients, university instructors and students who will be the real losers of the referendum, observed Free Democrat chairman János Kóka.
Christian Democrat keynote speaker Kálmán Nagy said the nominal medical fees mainly keep poor people with low schooling away from doctors and he urged the withdrawal of the multi-player health insurance act.
Meanwhile, Fidesz is now advocating an open arms policy instead of urging the Prime Minister to resign, Népszabadság surmises today.
Even Fidesz was reportedly surprised by the unexpectedly emphatic rejection of reform measures in Sunday’s referendum. Party chairman Viktor Orbán reportedly told a closed meeting of his MPs on Monday that Fidesz supporters may have made up only 2.5 million of the 3.3 million “yes” votes, and that 800,000 could have come from the ranks of the undecided or the left wing. This, he said, implies that Fidesz was able to reach out to people whom it had never reached out before, and who must not be alienated in the future.
Orbán also reportedly told Fidesz MPs that the referendum success is largely due to the fact that a policy of open arms had been predominant during the campaign instead of the usual combative stance. He explained that from now they should think in term of new dimensions, and the words “Fidesz” and “right wing” should be played down.
