The political picture is getting more colorful

HUNGARY - In Brief 04 Apr 2017 by Istvan Racz

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No doubt, the recent picture in domestic politics has been quite boring, as analysts could only report on continued Fidesz dominance in the polls, in addition to a never-ending series of soap-opera-style mini-conflicts among the many small parties of the leftist-liberal opposition, and occasionally some credible but limitedly far-reaching initiatives launched by close to marginal political groups.However, this may be changing now, due to some events that came up in recent days. For one, a big number of political commercials appeared in Budapest and elsewhere in the country on large billboards, depicting leading figures of Fidesz, including PM Orbán himself, with a simple message saying "You work, they steal, that is why there is no money for education" or that is why wages / old-age pensions are low, that is why the health care sector is in trouble, etc. These commercials are leaving behind little doubt regarding who "they", i.e. the ones who allegedly steal, are meant to be. Although publicly expressed moral criticism is usual in democracies, this content appears a bit too harsh to be business as usual. In Hungary's case, this is the first time when PM Orbán (the gentleman on the right side of the attached picture) is directly characterized as a criminal in any text appearing on the open street, rather than only in the leftist-liberal press or in the online social media. These commercials are coming from the radical right-wing Jobbik party, which has been fiercely competing with Fidesz for the right-wing part of the electorate, so far with limited success.Interestingly, the commercials appear on billboards owned by PM Orbán's former friend and top ally, Mr. Lajos Simi...