Electoral boycott? Prominent Hungarian journalist sees Tusnádfürdő speech as watershed

Zoltán Lovas, a prominent Hungarian journalist and activist whose name is certainly not unfamiliar to those who have followed the on-going Freedom Square protests, published a Facebook post Tuesday afternoon, in which he called for a boycott of the municipal elections scheduled for October 12th, 2014. Mr. Lovas believes that since Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s infamous speech in Tusnádfürdő/Băile Tușnad, Romania–in which he spoke in glowing terms about the demise of liberal democracy in Hungary–the country has become a veritable “neo-fascist state.”

Zoltán Lovas

Zoltán Lovas

“The dictator [ie: Mr. Orbán] has announced the establishment of a neo-fascist Hungarian state. Our allies, the developed, western countries, have essentially assisted in all of this. The democratic opposition is fragmented. As such, in its current state, the opposition is in no shape to halt or stop this fascistic process,” wrote Mr. Lovas.

The opposition journalist noted that supporters of liberal democracy must draw two conclusions from the most recent developments:

  1. The current regime should not be legitimized through the democratic opposition’s participation in the upcoming local elections.
  2. The current democratic opposition is not only incapable of halting the evolution of a fascist state, but in the future — when this regime eventually collapses — it will be ill-suited to serve as the main force behind the reconstruction of a liberal democratic system of governance.

In closing, Mr. Lovas indicated that he plans to join the hundreds of thousands of Hungarians (half a million, according to some estimates), who have decided to emigrate since 2010.

“I have tried to fight against the gradual rise of the dictator for the past 25 years. But I have to admit: I have failed. Within a matter of weeks, I will emigrate. I hope to see the day when there will once again be freedom in Hungary,” observed Mr. Lovas.

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