The opposition Tisza Party would “recapture Hungary” and build a new “peaceful, humane, and functioning” country, Tisza leader Péter Magyar told a party rally held in Kötcse, in western Hungary, on Sunday.
Péter Magyar outlined a more humane image of the country
Referring to next year’s parliamentary elections, Magyar said “the people of Hungary will turn a page in the history book in 217 days and start a new chapter about an equitable, peaceful and free homeland.” In that country, “state leaders are not lords but servants, labour ensures a decent living, pensioners are not humiliated but respected, while taxes are not a burden but fair and affordable contributions to a shared life,” he said, adding that “Hungary in the future will be associated with honesty, order, stability, a successful economy and democracy”.
Magyar said the country could become rich and successful, “no longer lagging behind other European countries but march in the forefront”, whose economy could be “innovative and creating value rather than being a toy in the hands of some oligarchs, a stable basis for the prosperity of every Hungarian.”
Magyar said a “peaceful and orderly” Hungary in Tisza’s programme would mean a country in which “law enforcement is free of political influence”, adding that “there is no future, development or public trust without peace and order.”
Magyar pledged to build a “clean and progressive” country with “clean air, clean water and clean politics”, which could become “a country of sustainability” that could address future challenges and in which energy efficiency and clean technologies would be “natural basic principles.”
In Tisza’s vision for the future, “health and welfare services would really serve the people with a focus on prevention, care, and human dignity”, while “education will prepare young people to face the challenges of the 21st century.”
Magyar said Hungary could be “home to all Hungarians, whether from this or the far side of the border, because the unity of the nation is not just a political phrase but a shared, serious responsibility.”
At the event, Ágnes Forsthoffer, Tisza’s tourism expert, was announced as a vice-chairperson of the party. In her address, she said her party would “stop wasting funds” in tourism and would strive for a partnership with municipalities.
Menczer: Tisza would serve Brussels
At the upcoming election, Hungarians need to decide whether they want a “sovereignist Orban government that represents Hungarian interests” or a Tisza government that “serves Brussels” and would introduce “the Tisza tax”, the communications director of ruling Fidesz told journalists in Kötcse on Sunday.
Photo: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd
Menczer said nobody had denied the existence of a document from the economy cabinet of the opposition Tisza Party that indicated higher taxes for Hungarians earning over 400,000 forints (EUR 1,020) a month. He added that Tisza officials had acknowledged that details of the plan could not be revealed until after the election.
Menczer warned that the tax changes Tisza wanted would take hundreds of thousands of forints from taxpayers. He highlighted government measures such as the Home Start Programme, increased tax allowances for families raising children, personal income tax exemptions for mothers, food vouchers for pensioners and the PIT exemption for under-25s that have benefitted Hungarians.
He said “credible surveys” gave Fidesz a ten percent lead, adding that left-wing liberal researchers had not conducted surveys but carried out “political work”.
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