“It is not true that Budapest was lost to the right wing”
– We congratulate you on your victory in Sunday’s municipal elections. He came straight from the Carmelite monastery, there was the selfie with Viktor Orbán?
– Thank you very much! Yes, I came from there, the Prime Minister also congratulated me, it was very honourable.
– Is this victory in the 1st district so important to Fidesz?
District I is a symbolic place. The capital and, in my opinion, the most beautiful area of Hungary. With a very high turnout, the bourgeois right has managed to avoid the intervals up to now, which I think is a very great achievement, considering that it sent all the known figures of the left to war in the campaign. The constituency became a real battleground, alongside Gergely Karácsony, Klára Dobrev, and Ágnes Kunhalmi, they marched for the candidate of the moment. The one-sided topos that left Budapest has been lost has been overturned. The other left-wing topos is that there are fewer young people on our side. This is not true! The team I speak of – it was one of the best, I owe them a lot – 20-30-year-old right-wing young people who can be relied on for future construction.
– Are they preparing for constructive opposition work? What do you think about today’s statement by Balázs Fürjes, according to which left-wing mayor Márta V. Naszályi should resign because of Sunday’s result?
– The mayor must answer this, Balázs Fürjes addressed this request to her. I think that we should not talk about positions now, but about actually starting the work in the first district. This election also showed that people recognized him; in the past three years, communication and appearance politicization took place in the district, but no major development was realized. For example, what typically bothers the people living here is the deterioration of public cleanliness, which is typical of Budapest as a whole since the left took over the leadership of the city.
– Ferenc Gelencsér, the previous representative of the district, argued in favor of the rehabilitation of Vérmező, this was the only concrete case he could present since 2019. Would you also transform the area belonging to your constituency?
The development and renovation of Vérmező is very important, many residents of District I use it. I think this work should not be “stitching up wrinkles”. The Vérmező project of the left-wing city administration is bleeding from several wounds. The lack of concept that characterized this whole thing – I’m thinking here that bushes were removed along the Attila road in the summer and flowers were planted in their place, which naturally withered in a couple of weeks in the heat – shows that the plan was not thought through. It is important to note that the area is owned by the capital. So it would really be up to the capital to renovate it, now the district is providing money for it, two hundred million forints. This should also be investigated. Priorities are also questionable. In the first instance, it would be important to solve the public lighting or fix the drinking fountains, for example. Street furniture, bins and benches would be next.
“Tell me a little about yourself!” The opposition press referred to you as László Böröcz’s colleague, in an attempt to counter the fact that the left-wing party started the previous representative’s secretary in the district. What did you do?
– I have been working with László Böröcz since 2014, I was the office manager of Fidelitas for a long time. I participated in the work of several civil organizations. Among them is the Buda Civic Association, with which we have been regularly organizing programs for the residents for more than a year now. There are several things to think about, we try to appeal to all age groups, for example there is a posture improvement exercise, an English and German social club, an acting and poetry circle. Basically, I deal with program organization, but for example I spent two years in Vienna with the Sándor Csoma Kőrös award, where I trained Hungarians in community organization. People need us to listen to them, talk to them, get to know them personally and try to find solutions to their problems.
– It is understandable from the current government party communication that the right wing has taken over the leadership of the district again. Isn’t that a bit excessive? In the representative body, he can now vote off Márta V. Naszályi with two former representatives from Jobbik.
Recently, there have been several issues where the two former right-wing representatives did not support the left-wing proposals. I trust that we will be able to cooperate and make decisions for the benefit of the people living in the district, according to which our plans will be realized, which can only be better for the people living here.
– So you won’t support the Átrium private theater with HUF 35 million in the district?
– No. On the contrary, there is plenty of room for improvement in the district’s culture. At the Buda Civic Hall, we also implement programs that were very popular a long time ago, under the previous Fidesz city administration. For example, related to Sándor Márai, who lived in Krisztinaváros, and they were always fully married in the Márai evenings performed by the actor István Hirtling and the literary historian Tibor Mészáros. This has completely disappeared from the district in recent years. The Castle District Gallery in my area also has much less frequent programs, as does the Jókai Anna Salon. The legacy of Anna Jókai was transferred to the Petőfi Literary Museum. District I, which is very rich in natural, architectural and cultural values, has lost a lot since 2019, we will work to make it so.