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The balance sheet of 25 years of democracy

May 8th, 2015
Commenting on the commemoration held 25 years after the swearing in of the first democratically elected Hungarian Parliament in May 1990, analysts disagree on both the past and present.

In Népszava, György Sebes rejects Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s diagnosis according to which the regime change brought disappointment to most Hungarians, until 2010 when the current government majority performed a peaceful revolution and set out to make the original dream of a ‘Civic Hungary’ true. The left-wing commentator believes that “the series of disappointments is not over yet – the next in line is the Prime Minister himself”.

In its front page editorial, Népszabadság finds it unacceptable that the organisers of the commemoration held in the Parliament building failed to invite Socialist MPs including Deputy Speaker István Hiller. The conference was organised by the Veritas Institute of History created by the government last year and the Office of Parliament.

In Napi Gazdaság, Ottó Gajdics suggestions that citizens lost their faith in a better future each time the left won the elections over the past 25 years. Hundreds of thousands of families feel that a real revolution took place in 2010, which created a chance for them to get rid of the Communist heritage. Many have been discouraged by the hardships along the road, he admits, but he concludes that “the majority is hanging on, as we haven’t got another 25 years to squander”.

 

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