Hungarian Politics podcast – Lajos Bokros, Gyula Molnár

We’re bringing out the big guns for this week on the Hungarian Politics podcast! There was a by-election in the town of Dunaújváros on June…

The post Hungarian Politics podcast – Lajos Bokros, Gyula Molnár first appeared on Hungarian Politics.

We’re bringing out the big guns for this week on the Hungarian Politics podcast! There was a by-election in the town of Dunaújváros on June 5 that resulted in a victory by the ruling Fidesz party, and we were lucky enough to get to speak with Lajos Bokros about it.

Lajos Bokros, President of the Movement for a Modern Hungary party

Bokros is the former Finance Minister under the Horn government who introduced a package of financial reforms in 1995 that stabilized the Hungarian economy and put it on a path for future growth. In 2009, he became a European Parliamentarian, and in 2013 he started his own political party, the Movement for a Modern Hungary (MoMa).

In addition to the Dunaújváros election, we asked Bokros to tell us about the legacy of the 1995 stabilization package that he is still strongly associated with, why he re-entered Hungarian politics, how his party differs from other political parties in Hungary, and what the opposition needs to do to get into power.

Protesting the government’s educational policy, 11 June 2016. Leaders Katalin Törley, István Pukli, and Mária Sándor are at the front of the line, holding the banner that reads, “Let’s send a message to the government, so that even they understand it!”

We then visited a protest organized by the Tanítanék movement in Budapest on June 11. Tanítanék is composed of educators and their supports around Hungary who want to promote changes in the Hungarian educational system. They marched from the Pest side to the Buda side and handed out symbolic “report cards” to the government for their work on education.

Television personality István Vágó (left) speaks with MSZP politician Gyula Molnár at the Tanítanék protest, 11 June 2016

 

 

 

 

At the event, we managed to snag a short Hungarian-language interview with Gyula Molnár, a leading politician with the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) and former mayor of Budapest’s District XI, who is currently running to lead the party as its head.

Molnár told us why he was there at the protest, what steps the MSZP should take in the area of education, and what changes he would implement in the party if he is elected as its leader.

You can follow Lajos Bokros on Twitter @lajosbokros, and Gyula Molnár @gygyula

And why not follow us as well on Twitter? We’re at @nelsonstevend Also, if you enjoy the show, please leave a review on iTunes.

You can listen to the show in the player at the top of this post, or download the file to your local drive. Thanks for listening!

The post Hungarian Politics podcast – Lajos Bokros, Gyula Molnár first appeared on Hungarian Politics.