Opposition PM candidate: Migrant rights will not win an election

The opposition mayor of Budapest told Zeit Online that the rights of immigrants are important to all six opposition parties, but they prefer not to campaign for them, writes Mandiner

Gergely Karácsony, the Prime Minister-candidate for Dialogue and MSZP, gave an interview to Zeit Online in which he said that before the 2010 election of Viktor Orbán, “there was a seemingly stable democratic system.” He is now running for PM because, as he put it, he feels it is his moral duty to fight the Orbán government. 

According to the mayor of Budapest, the Hungarian government creates “non-existent” enemies, including the LGBTQ lobby, George Soros, and migrants. 

The issue of migrants is interesting because later in the same interview, Gergely Karácsony said that all six opposition parties agree that the human rights of migrants must be guaranteed. However, when asked how much priority this issue would receive from the opposition, Karácsony replied: 

Let me be honest: We cannot win the election with this. Ensuring the human rights of asylum seekers is our moral duty and part of our program, but we will not print it on our election posters.” 

Zeit also asked Karácsony about the government’s referendum on the child protection law; regarding this, he said the whole child protection thing is a “political bluff.” 

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