Hungary will again undergo a period of pain if the next government fails to follow the current course set by the current crisis-management administration and instead resorts to “irresponsible populist” politics, Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai told the Socialist party congress on Saturday.
In his forty-minute address to the congress — after Attila Mesterhazy was elected as the party’s prime minister candidate — Bajnai said a populist government after the general election next spring would set the country back and rob it of the hard-won trust of foreign investors and international institutions. It would compromise stability and growth and put the country back to where it started when it stood on the brink of economic meltdown, he said.
Bajnai, who is not a member of the Socialist party, urged delegates at the congress to stick to the course set by his crisis-management government. He insisted that this would lead to a successful modern European Hungary which could be proud of its own achievements.
Bajnai, who is to step down from politics at the next election, said that support for his government’s crisis-management measures was responsible and selfless, and only people who are prepared to follow this path are worthy of government. He called on the party to defend the country against political demagoguery, irresponsibility and the disintegration of trust.
Referring to the conservative opposition party Fidesz and its insistence that there are “skeletons in the closet” of the budget, Bajnai said that the closet had been put in order and the “only skeletons are to be found in the natural sciences’ museum”.
Fidesz insists that the budget deficit will be much bigger next year than the government’s target.
Bajnai added that although parliament had passed over 100 laws or amendments in the past few months, they could not afford to relax since the crisis would last until the employment situation had palpably improved.
The most important task is to create greater security for the families of working people and protect those who are struggling the most due to the crisis, he said. Jobs must be protected, there should be a police presence in every village, red tape should be cut, and Roma graduates should be given work in public administration while their shanty towns should be dismantled, he said.
Bajnai said that if the country continues to pursue a sober economic policy then the sacrifices that have been made will produce results such as growth of four percent of gross domestic product and the next parliament will be in a position to distribute 2,000 billion forints without endangering stability. He said that this should not simply be shared out in the usual way, but divided between the past, present and future to serve national debt repayments, mending public services, the social safety net, pension corrections and tax cuts and improving the country’s competitiveness.
