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Last year, the Fidesz-based city of Baranya almost became an “accidental” socialist mayor, after József Szekó, who had ruled the settlement for more than twenty years, died unexpectedly during the campaign. Mohács responds again today.
Although the collective psyche of Hungarian society associates many notions with the name Mohács, the concept of political competition was never one of them. In the city of Baranya, from the memory of the people, it has not happened that the residents here have faced a tough political struggle, an open and forceful campaign. By comparison, most of the settlement is now covered in mills and billboards, the sun after Saturday morning’s rain. Gábor Pávkovics Deputy Mayor Fidesz, who is also a mayoral candidate, wipes the cement off his face.
The other thing that would never make anyone think of Mohács was that Gergely Christmas it could also be a dream city. I mean, in the sense that everyone in Baranya’s second largest settlement has been riding bikes for decades, plus there’s not as much fighting on the bike lanes as in Budapest. And these hundreds of motorcyclists on Saturday mornings do what they usually do in a rural town of this size: go to the market.
Compared to the size of Mohács, the policy also responded to the large concentration of people, since all exits and entrances to the market were closed with the precision of military strategists by the candidate counters of one or more activists.
This certainly hasn’t happened here since 1998. He then came to power József Szekó, the former mayor of the city, who died tragically suddenly in the wake of the 2019 municipal elections. Szekó was such a stable point in Mohács’ life that Fidesz confidently made all decisions in the district, and the settlement became a free city of Fidesz, where a great deal of state support flowed into Baranya.
As a result, the opposition was almost imperceptible in the city. Although the MSZP in Baranya had some influence, this was significantly weakened by the fact that the relationship between the party headquarters and its local people was often problematic. Until now, DK and Momentum barely existed in Mohács. In the 2018 parliamentary elections in Baranya constituency number 3, of which Mohács is the center, the Momentum could not even collect the five hundred recommendations.
The death of the mayor last year shook the city, followed by a series of absurd events: after Seko’s death, the governing parties no longer had the opportunity to nominate a new candidate, leaving only one candidate for the mayor’s office, the MSZP. Ferenc Csorbai. Since he had no opponent, after Seco’s death, it was made certain that he would be the next mayor. Several parties asked him to withdraw from the candidacy due to his death, but Csorbai refused to do so. In the end, the Mohács voted him roughly twice as many invalid votes as when he became mayor with valid votes.
Then, in a longer article, we wrote that it was an anomaly that in any case would persist for a few months, since it was not possible to dissolve the House of Representatives and call a new vote for half a year after the October elections. However, in the special legal order introduced due to the coronavirus epidemic, it was also not possible to hold elections, which kept the situation for a couple of more months, so Csorbai has been able to rule the city for more than ten months.
This period was marked by almost continuous political battles, which were the worst of the campaign. He led the city from the Csorba opposition after Fidesz won all the individual districts last year. The eight pro-government municipal representatives were confronted by three members of the opposition who came to the House of Representatives on a compensation list. With such an alignment, in fact, only mandatory circles, such as budget approval, could be resolved.
Meanwhile, Csorbai had a spectacular fight with the local MSZP, although otherwise he had a relatively stable relationship with the party’s elite, if only because To László Puch, the son-in-law of the former party treasurer. Finally, the mayor will no longer run as a candidate for the Socialist Party, but for the Generation of Wishes for Civic Change (VAN). This is based on the pro-coalition atmosphere in that it is supported by all opposition parties except Momentum, and the VAN activists are basically people from other parties, but the Csorbai posters do not include names of parties.
We could have expected a lot in the past, but not that in the last almost a year, it is not Fidesz but the opposition that will strengthen in Mohács. However, it now appears that Csorbai could achieve a better result in the interim vote than last October, and even squeeze even Fidesz.
Pávkovics, for example, said to our question that a result above 60 percent would already be considered a success, but this seems like a moderate expectation compared to Fidesz’s previous situation. In the 2014 municipal elections, for example, the opposition parties scored around 30 percent here, while Fidesz won almost 70 percent.
According to Pávkovics, it is basically not related to local politics, but to national politics, if one feels that the local opposition has strengthened a bit. In any case, Fidesz reacted spectacularly to the opposition coalition. László Palkovics The Minister of Innovation and Technology recently visited the city, where he again promised to build a new bridge over the Danube, and when we arrived on Saturday morning at the counters installed next to the market, right next to Pávkovics. Bánki Erikbe We stumble upon who is the most powerful Fidesz in the county. Bánki is the president of the economic commission of the parliament, he is also from Mohács. By the way, almost by reflex he refused to answer our questions, he immediately referred me to the mayoral candidate.
In his campaign, Csorbai approached the classic tools of politicizing the opposition: he dealt almost exclusively with Fidesz corruption cases and accusations, sometimes already prone to demagoguery. He chided, for example, that his rival had a Rolex in his arms, which, however, did not mean much in itself, since Gábor Pávkovics had worked as a bank manager for years before becoming a politician. Csorbai’s criticism had some effect because the Fidesz candidate stood out without a watch.
Csorbai modestly predicted the expected result, according to him, it was a success that they showed Mohács a more open management of the city than before. Anyway, he said that it was possible to work in this atmosphere of war, and who says something, the representative body that he leads has achieved many things in the city.
The outcome of Sunday’s elections goes far beyond itself. Mohács is one of the most stable Fidesz cities in the country, whose leadership has been lost due to unexpected deaths and rigid electoral rules, but local politics has not moved in the last almost a year in the direction that everyone expected, but in the direction opposite. In Budapest, for example, it is rare to see someone who does not allow themselves to be photographed while standing by the Fidesz counter, and this is what has happened here. While the locals are confident that Gábor Pávkovics will win the elections, they also consider it a fact that the opposition has grown a lot in the settlement since last year.
If the stubborn opposition could oppress Fidesz in such a stable bastion, national consequences could stem from the rural support of the ruling party. Although the chances of this happening are small, it is worth noting that if the opposition can win here, there are very few Fidesz districts in Hungary where they will not.
Featured Image: Norbert Farkas / 24.hu
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