Election Hungary 2006

Posted by stephen on Tuesday, 04th April, 2006 @ 19:07

It's the Hungarian Assembly elections this coming Sunday and all the political parties are actively campaigning. Apparently a socialist/liberal coalition is in power at the moment, having narrowly beaten out the right wing party in the previous elections. The right wing party were campaigning incredibly hard on Sunday in a large rally in front of the Parliament which was being distributed on massive screens and speakers in the surrounding streets.

Apparently many people were shipped in from the countryside (the socialist/liberal contingent being much stronger in the city) filling the streets and Metro considerably more than they were on the Saturday night prior to the rally.

I was impressed at the turnout at the event, it's certainly something you won't see in the UK anytime soon. Of course, not knowing more than a very few words of Hungarian I had no idea what the speakers were talking about.

But what I could understand is how they were speaking and their body language. And I found it terrifyingly reminiscent of some 20th Century history. They were incredibly aggressive both in voice and in action. Lots of arm stretched fists and shouting. It truly reminded me of the Nazi rallies. And the people were very much fully onboard with the message.

I really hope this party doesn't get into power. I know I don't know their policies, but based purely on the behaviour in the rally I think it could be bad news for Hungary.