Professor - Department of Law
UPDATE:
Fidesz won 139/199 seats with 52% majority vote.
Key Takeaways:
Dr. Halmai gave an incredibly detailed explanation of Hungary’s political situation and what the April 4, 2022 election would mean for the state of the country. The government is a coalition that is very different from the United States’ two-party system. The fact that Dr. Halmai was Prime Minister Orbán’s professor of law was shocking, especially when he confessed that he knew from the start that Orbán was “sharp” and “ruthless.”
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On March 2nd, 2022, Ponte Nuovo students had the opportunity to speak with Professor Gábor Halmai. With the upcoming Hungarian elections on April 4th, we asked Dr. Halmai to explain the current and past situation in Hungary and what to expect in the coming months.
To explain the government of Hungary, Dr. Halmai began with the past 30 years. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Hungary, like many other countries, pushed for democracy. The party of which Prime Minister Orbán is a member is presently called Fidesz but began as the Alliance of Young Democrats where all members had to be under 33 years old in order to participate. In fact, Dr. Halmai was PM Orbán's professor of law and noted that PM Orbán was a sharp student.
When Fidesz was elected in 2010, the Hungarian government was dismantled in only nine days. Since then, Dr. Halmai believes Hungary has become an authoritarian state. Currently, all of the media in the country is controlled and censored by the government, leaving the population brainwashed. The election on April 4th is already rigged because of this — how can it be fair when one of the parties controls the content the voters consume?
Because Fidesz cannot control the media outside of the country, they have other tricks to prevent Hungarians abroad from voting. To vote, you must be a Hungarian resident, not just a citizen. If you have residency and wish to vote, votes can only be casted at a Hungarian Embassy or Consulate. Fidesz knows that most Hungarians who oppose the government live abroad and will most likely not vote for their party. However, many Hungarians live on the outskirts of Hungary in Slovakia, Romania, and Serbia, and they are allowed to vote by mail. This is because Fidesz knows that the majority of these people will vote in their favor and this makes their votes much easier to cast. These are just some of the discreet ways the election has been rigged for years.
Unfortunately, Dr. Halmai does not believe Hungary will be rid of Fidesz this year, and even if the opposition — a coalition of every other party combined hoping to beat Fidesz — does win, it will take decades to recover from its influence. The population of Hungary is 0.4% people of non-Hungarian origins; most Hungarians have never seen a person of color. During the Syrian Refugee Crisis, Hungary refused to take any refugees because they claimed the Syrians were "Muslim invaders." Now, they are accepting many Ukrainian refugees. This only enforces the racism that the government is teaching its people. Additionally, the government claims that anyone who is a part of the LGBTQ+ community is a pedophile. Queer characters are not present in entertainment, and queer actors are not allowed to appear on screen. The government is forcing these ideals down the citizens' throats.
Our conversation with Dr. Halmai was very informative but discouraging. The state of Hungary is in the hands of a rigged election with two outcomes — one slightly worse than the other, but the opposition is still dangerous. Dr. Halmai has given us incredible information in order to follow this important event over the next few months, and I will certainly continue my research and wait for the outcome of the future of this country.
