Index – Homeland – Alexandra Szentkirályi: The people of Budapest are rightly fed up with gyurcsány

In an interview with Index, Alexandra Szentkirályi stated, among other things:

• “The mayor behaves more like a hysterical child than a responsible leader of Budapest.”
• “If I argued with Gergelly Karácsony instead of Ferenc Gyurcsány, it would be like arguing with a cocoa snail instead of the baker about a charred pastry.”
• “A condescending and paternalistic attitude prevails at the City Hall.”
• “Several hundred million forints were spent on paying the people of Gyurcsány and on the salaries of consultants, but there is no money for road renovations. How is this?”
• Gergely Karácsony “couldn’t properly carry out anything that he didn’t inherit from the previous city administration”.
• “I will not allow someone to set up tents at a tram stop or a bus stop.”
• “The people of Budapest are not interested in who can fight the loudest against Viktor Orbán.”
• “If we continue to move forward with the approach that Gergely Karácsony represents, there won’t even be a hoe cut in this city.”
• “If we get together enough and go to the polls on June 9, we can finally get Gergely Karácsony out of the lives of the people of Budapest.”

Viktor Orbán gave a speech at the final stop of the Peace March, Margitsziget. He spoke at length about the election, mentioning by name the European leader of the Fidesz-KDNP list, Tamás Deutsch, but he did not mention Budapest or you. I wonder why not?

This year’s elections are framed by the question of war or peace, but of course this is also important in Budapest. Especially when a mayor who previously declared in a program that Hungary is also at war is running again to win the trust of the voters. When such a statement is made in a period with a gunpowder mood, I think that, in addition to daily unresolved matters, such as public cleanliness or traffic, this aspect should also be taken into account by the voters of Budapest. Do they want a leader of Budapest who is pro-peace and does not give in to this position, or the opposite, a leader who embodies war psychosis? In other words, the stakes of the election in Budapest are war or peace.

Tamás Deutsch was there at the beginning of the Peace Procession, but you could not be seen in the front row. Where was?

We decided that those coming representing the districts of Budapest march together with their own signs. We met at the bottom of the Budavári funicular, at the zero kilometer mark, and from there we marched together over the Chain Bridge.

So isn’t it the case that the government has let Budapest and its candidate for mayor off the hook?

I experience the opposite. Huge attention is being paid to the current campaign in Budapest, and this is due to the fact that there is a very sharp competition for the mayoral candidate. Hungary’s largest and strongest political community is behind me. This is also a huge weapon in Budapest, because now there really is a chance to finally replace Gergely Karácsony and move the capital in the direction of real development. For this, I feel support and trust from the voters.

“Gergely Káracsony really behaves like a small child”

In any case, according to public opinion polls, the race for mayor seems to be over. Why do you think Karácsony ranks worse than Gergely in the surveys?

I’m always very skeptical of polls. It has happened many times that pollsters have come up with an interpretation according to which the election has run its course, and then reality has confronted them. But it is not my job to analyze or interpret surveys. Not least because it doesn’t matter who orders a particular poll.

I do this too, I do my job, and I see it, and the feedback I receive also proves that the people of Budapest are getting very tired of the current leadership in the capital. There is a particularly sharp competition going on, and I think that if all right-wing people in Budapest go to vote for change on June 9, then this match can absolutely be won.

Could it be that the research numbers aren’t good because there was too much rattling and that’s not what the people of Budapest are interested in?

The people of Budapest have their snowshoes very full precisely because their interests are not at the center, but those of Ferenc Gyurcsány. Gergely Karácsony Gyurcsány is currently campaigning in Salgótarján or, for example, Tatabánya on the instructions of Ferencsány Gyurcsány. Karácsony Gyurcsány is when Mrs. Gyurcsány’s face is displayed on posters all over Budapest. Karácsony is Gyurcsány even when he keeps all Gyurcsány people on the payroll in the capital. So yes, the people of Budapest are rightfully fed up with Ferenc Gyurcsány and Gyurcsány. There is only one antidote to this: if we finally send Ferenc Gyurcsány to retirement together with Gergely Karácsony.

Who invented the Adventures of Bébi Gyurcsány campaign, in which Gergely Karácsony is presented to a hysterical little child?

I didn’t come up with the idea, but your message isn’t far from reality at all.

The question would have been precisely what is his opinion „about baby snuggling” .

The mayor behaves more like a hysterical child than a responsible leader of Budapest. In the last five years, if there was a campaign period and Ferenc Gyurcsány asked him to campaign for Klára Dobrev, he did it without any problems. But he gets hysterical when someone calls him to account. He has already received the question from the media, who sympathize with him to no end, why he actually considers Klára Dobrev to be the most suitable candidate for Prime Minister for the 2026 parliamentary elections. However, Karácsony only angrily explains himself, instead of being an adult city leader who stands up for the interests of the people of Budapest.

Don’t you think that this “baby nitpicking” is counter-productive and a rather despicable level?

I think that Gergely Karácsony really behaves like a small child, and I think this is the worst thing for the capital. The people of Budapest expect me to put an end to this Gyurcsány show, and after five seasons not to order a sixth one, because by now all sensible people have had enough of it.

“I couldn’t have argued with the one who is the master of Budapest today”

A heated mayoral candidate debate took place. Gergely Karácsony and Dávid Vitézy could clash their views on Budapest. Did you see the debate?

No, I’m campaigning and meeting people from Budapest, I’ve seen and heard enough from Gergely Karácsony in the past five years. Besides, it doesn’t matter what he promises, because the last five years are just proof that he can’t be taken seriously. And if he is called to account for this, he gets indignant or declares that he actually planned his program for fifty years.

Why didn’t you take on the mayoral candidate debate?

No, because I couldn’t argue with the one who is the real master of Budapest today. Because it is not Gergely Karácsony, but quite clearly Ferenc Gyurcsány. If I argued with Gergelly Karácsony instead of Ferenc Gyurcsány, it would be like arguing with a cocoa snail instead of the baker about a charred pastry.

His excuse is always that he would only argue with Gergely Karácsony’s boss, Ferenc Gyurcsány…

Because I really want to be with him. I have a lot of questions. For example, I would like to hold him accountable for why he does not pay his City Hall people out of his own pocket, why the people of Budapest have to foot the bill.

Your boss is Viktor Orbán, but we have seen and heard him debate in an election campaign a long time ago. Is Fidesz afraid of controversy? Why don’t they take up arguments?

There was also a debate in which Tamás Deutsch also participated.

And there was also a list leadership debate in the capital, in which neither Péter Magyar nor you participated.

I can say the same as before: I didn’t participate in the discussion because the main character wasn’t there.

But as I said, the past five years gave me just enough insight into the way Gergely Karácsony led the city, and not a single promise could be trusted.

Considering the electoral aspects, wouldn’t it have been more expedient to pit your own position against the other mayoral candidates and the leaders of the capital’s list?

The people of Budapest already know my point of view. Quite often I tell my seven-point plan, which I do not plan for fifty years, but for the next cycle. I can undertake these seven points, and I can promise the voters that if they trust me, I will fulfill all of them. My plan starts with a town hall cleanup.

With a massive twitch.

If a person’s house is on fire, they first put out the fire, and then start cleaning and then renovating. And now there is a fire, and putting out the fire means cleaning up Ferenc Gyurcsány. Every single day passes as Ferenc Gyurcsány’s loyal men – his former minister, his former secretaries of state, his former chief of staff, and his former bodyguard – sit in the City Hall for fat salaries and siphon off the capital, causing damage to the people of Budapest.

“My vision: a livable Budapest for everyone”

On what basis did you compile the other points of your program?

I looked at the problems that affect the majority of the citizens of the capital and the functioning of Budapest. The way transport is organized, or rather not organized, is a problem. The traffic chaos needs to be put to an end, and this can be achieved through improvements. The state of public cleanliness is also a very serious problem.

This is not the case by chance, three thousand bins were dismantled, a lot of people were fired, and two billion forints were taken from the capital city company responsible for public cleanliness. I would remedy this as well and double the resources for public cleanliness. More machines and more people are needed so that the city does not look like it does now. In addition, I would create a city guardianship for a much more livable, cleaner and safer Budapest. The bankruptcy situation must also be eliminated, and a much more responsible management of Budapest is needed. Corruption cases that have arisen in recent years must be investigated and corruption in the capital must be eradicated. At the City Hall, there are many people in sports jobs, i.e. redundant jobs. The capital operates as a luxury payment center, and this must also be abolished. My seventh point is about making the nation’s capital great again. In addition to daily problems, cultural issues should also be dealt with, because the city administration has not cared about them so far, and Budapest’s 150th birthday has passed us by almost without a trace. The issue of tourism must be addressed so that there is a healthy balance between quantity and quality, so that the people of Budapest are satisfied with it.

Which of these is the most important problem for the people of Budapest?

These are all equally important problems, but their root is that the cash cow attitude that characterizes the management of the capital must first be done away with. They are not looking at what they can do for the people of Budapest, but what Budapest can do for them. It is not right.

In recent years, the discourse in the capital was mostly about the contrast between motorists and cyclists. How could it be solved so that both motorists and cyclists can feel the city as their own?

I think even pedestrians and public transport users should feel at home. My vision: a livable Budapest for everyone. However, the capital’s leadership does not understand that the people of Budapest do not drive for a hobby, but because, for example, they take their children to kindergarten or school, or go to work, visit and take their elderly parents to the doctor. Of course, they sometimes play sports, walk and relax in their free time. A city must manage them in unity, a holistic approach is needed. But this is not what is happening, the Budapest administration treats the people of Budapest like children who need to be educated and banned. A condescending and paternalistic attitude prevails at the City Hall.

What do you think?

Air pollution in Budapest cannot be improved by making car transport more expensive, closing the wharf, reducing the number of public transport routes, banning old cars, and only local residents will be able to drive onto the Nagykörút. According to HungaroMet’s data, air pollution has even worsened, and the reason for this is that traffic has been interfered with. There were not fewer cars, but more traffic jams. P+R parking lots must be built in the city limits in cooperation with the agglomeration settlements, and the closed-track transport must be developed to offer an alternative for motorists. Gergely Karácsony now expects people to park their cars, but in the meantime not a single kilometer of tram line was built during his term.

Should parking remain in the hands of the districts, or should there be a central parking system?

It would definitely be good if a transparent, uniform, central parking system were created. This was promised by Gergely Karácsony, but I don’t think I will really surprise anyone that he failed to do this either. Formally, it is in the hands of the capital, but parking is actually decided based on the proposals of the districts.

“I want to be an order party mayor”

In connection with the developments and Budapest’s freedom of movement, it has been said several times by the city administration and Gergely Karácsony that the government has made the capital city impossible, destroyed it, and taken its money.

The Gergelys of Karácsony always come up with the solidarity contribution and its amount, while that money will not belong to the government, but to the settlements in a more difficult situation. That’s why it’s called a solidarity contribution. The mayor also likes to forget about the business tax as an income, the amount of which has increased continuously in recent years. Moreover, in addition to the fact that all municipalities had to deal with the same challenges – for example, energy prices caused by the war – Budapest is still the richest municipality in the country. Hundreds of millions of forints were spent on paying Gyurcsány people and consulting salaries, but there is no money for road renovations. How is this?

Are you saying then that the capital is not politically punished?

Budapest is constantly being developed by the government. Gergely Karácsony does not have a single work of his own in the city. He could not carry out anything properly that he had not inherited from the previous city administration. On the contrary, a very successful Liget Budapest Project was realized, against which Gergely Karácsony protested with fire and iron. Just a few days ago, the building of the Museum of Ethnography received the international prize considered the Oscar of architecture, and four years ago the House of Hungarian Music was also awarded.

There was also a huge hysteria against the athletics stadium, and then Karácsony took a selfie from the stadium at the opening. What kind of punishment is it that the government gave successful investments to Budapest?

The homeless situation is included in his seven-point plan. He declared to Mandiner that “the public square is not a toilet, the tram is not a homeless shelter, the street is not a pub”. Isn’t it a vote-maximizing mood to use this topic?

Between 2010 and 2019, the previous city administration dealt with the homeless issue continuously, not during the campaign period. Gergely Karácsony owes it to himself if this topic can be used to create a mood. Now, due to his indifference, Budapest’s public spaces have become in such a state, and the situation of the homeless has become so difficult that there really is a kind of “atmosphere” around the topic. It is a huge problem that, according to the city administration, it is perfectly fine for people to live in public areas.

But these public space problems did not appear during the mayorship of Gergely Karácsony. They’ve been there before.

I still remember when, under the mayorship of István Tarlós, we jointly launched the Fűtött utca program with the Ministry of the Interior. In this matter too, it would be good if Gergely Karácsony did not throw tantrums and point at the government, but rather see it as a partner. A few weeks ago, I discussed with the Minister of the Interior Sándor Pintér, among other things, the problems in public areas and the homeless situation, and he was open to cooperating with the capital.

But the people of Budapest are also not happy that they cannot use bus stops or benches in parks and public spaces, because they are overrun by homeless people. Where is the liberalism in the fact that the majority do not have the freedom to freely use the city’s public spaces? Where is the humanity in the fact that the homeless are not offered any meaningful solution to their problem?

Why didn’t the government have a comprehensive social plan to help the homeless in the last fourteen years?

The Ministry of the Interior and the city administration before 2019 also dealt with this issue. As I said, they had a joint program offering a solution. By the way, the capital has a mandatory duty to provide for the homeless, but I don’t see what it has done in this matter in the last five years.

How would you achieve that the public square does not become a toilet, the tram does not become a homeless shelter, and the street does not become a pub?

We need to develop the care systems that homeless people now have access to, but at the same time I also agree that I want to be a pro-order mayor. I will not let someone set up tents at a tram or bus stop. The homeless must be offered the opportunity to integrate into the world of work. They have to be helped in this, but if someone doesn’t want to accept this helping hand, we can’t raise our hand and say that it’s good, so let him live in peace at the bus stop. We cannot accept it if the people of Budapest cannot use public spaces, or if a mother does not dare to send her two little girls to school because they have to pass a place where the homeless live, and comments are made that the little girls are afraid to go there. The latter, for example, is a real Budapest complaint that reached me in the past few days.

Larger train stations, the vicinity of bus stations and underpasses attract people with bad faces, who are drunk or under the influence of who knows what else, anyone can see this. But then why aren’t there more police in places like this to respond when needed? Perhaps this will not be decided at the City Hall, but at the Ministry of the Interior, right?

Before 2019, the BRFK and the Metropolitan Police Directorate organized joint patrols. This presence had a great deterrent effect on public spaces. During my meeting with Sándor Pintér, I learned that the number of hours of joint patrols decreased from 37,000 hours in 2019 to just over 2,000 hours last year. The Ministry of the Interior is open to raising these hours again, but here again the problem is with the capital, which does not deal with this issue. The people of Budapest are not interested in who can fight against Viktor Orbán the loudest, but whether there is cleanliness and order in the city, whether the garbage is taken away, and whether they can safely use public transport.

“What I undertake, I do”

Do you need mini-Dubai or maxi-Dubai or not?

Here, too, the typical Gergely Karácsony clatter can be observed. The fact is that there is a landscape scar the size of Margaret Island in Budapest, where nothing has happened in recent years. The government is preparing to recultivate and clean this area, which is otherwise contaminated with waste that is dangerous to human health, and to bring investment there that will create jobs and improve transportation and green areas.

If we continue to move forward with the approach represented by Gergely Karácsony, then there won’t even be a hoe cut in this city.

I understand well that you support mini- or maxi-Dubai as an option, but are conditions and guarantees necessary for the benefit of the people of Budapest?

No matter what we call the specific project, the point is that the people of Budapest can be the winners of a development, an investment, and the capital receives a guarantee of this.

Do you support the construction of a high-speed train between the airport and the city center with Chinese participation and capital?

I support building a high-speed train between the airport and the city center. I’m not saying China should build this, but they shouldn’t be ruled out either. Build the express train that can do it best, fastest and cheapest.

In Hódmezővásárhely, Viktor Orbán explained quite clearly to the Fidesz party that they should only address their own in this campaign. You need more than that if you want to win. What would you say to those who would vote for Gergely Karácsony or Dávid Vitézy? Why do they change their mind?

When I think about what kind of Budapest I want, the most important aspect for me is what kind of city my now eleven-year-old daughter will grow up in, work in and start a family with. But the city that Gergely Karácsony is now offering is simply not good enough. It is not about my daughter, not about her contemporaries, not about the people of Budapest, but about Ferenc Gyurcsány, the Draskovics, the Zoltáns Gál J., the Imrek Márthas, the Csabás Tordais, and that is not right. The public affairs of the city and the people of Budapest must be put in the center again. I trust that the supporters of our political community, as well as those beyond, want a livable, transportable, clean, people-oriented city. Wherever I go, I see that the people of Budapest are disappointed and dissatisfied, and feel that Gergely Karácsony has deceived them and abused their trust. I will not abuse this trust, and I will do what I undertake. I can promise that I will always keep the interests of the people of Budapest in mind. If we get together enough and go to the polls on June 9, we can finally get Gergely Karácsony out of the life of the people of Budapest, making way for someone who wants to work for the people of Budapest, not for Ferenc Gyurcsány.

In the last week of the election campaign, Index launched a series of interviews with mayor candidates: on Tuesday, we published our interview with Gergely Karácsony, and on Wednesday with Dávid Vitézy.

Browse the election supplement of the Index, in which you can find everything about local government and European Parliament elections! Articles, surveys, kisokos, candidates – the most important information in one place. On the day of the voting, look for the participation data, the results with maps and mandates, and follow our studio discussion starting at seven o’clock in the evening, in which we await you with on-site registrations and analyzes by experts!

(Cover photo: Alexandra Szentkirályi. Photo: Péter Papajcsik / Index)