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Budapest Mayor holds online ’residents’ assembly’

June 9th, 2023

A pro-government commentator dismisses the online opinion poll launched by the Mayor as a scam.

In an online poll called a ‘residents’ assembly’, the Budapest Council invites residents to take sides in its feud with the government on extraordinary taxes and the recently renovated Chain Bridge. Residents are invited to choose whether the city should cut back public transport services or refuse to pay the extra levy imposed on the city; whether the government should pay its promised contribution for the restoration of Chain Bridge; and whether the bridge should remain closed to cars.

In Magyar Nemzet, Gyula Veér ridicules the Mayor’s initiative, which he calls a circus. He asks why the Mayor is not asking city dwellers to express their views on his performance. The renovation of the Chain Bridge, he writes, has still not been fully completed and has incurred significant additional costs. Similarly, Veér adds, the renovation of Metro line 3 has suffered ‘scandalous’ delays and the railway cars have no air conditioning, despite promises to the contrary by the Mayor. Finally, he asks why the mayor needs five deputy mayors and 45 so-called senior advisers. Perhaps ‘because the Mayor is scandalously unfit for the job’? he asks.

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