Népszabadság accuses government of wholesale corruption

In an unprecedented frontal attack on the government, the leading left-wing daily names top leaders in a front page editorial entitled “Corruption”.

Népszabadság devotes its daily front page editorial column to a series of fierce personal attacks on leading Fidesz personalities, accusing them indirectly of profiting from corruption. The article starts with a description of the underground parking lot of the Parliament building where “dozens of expensive vehicles are to be found, the price of which could not have been paid from the salaries of MPs”. The editors then accuse leading politicians of living in houses they could not afford from their declared revenues. They include PM Orbán (who bought his house, according to his asset declaration, almost 15 years ago, after selling his previous apartment and taking  a long term mortgage loan), Foreign Minister Péter Szíjjártó, (who sold his house and was given the difference by his parents – who are also suspected of corruption by Népszabadság) and deputy Fidesz chairman Lajos Kósa (who sold his house in an elegant Debrecen neighbourhood and bought a flat in a Budapest condominium). Kósa is also criticised for his recent visit to New Zeland where he attended a Rolling Stones concert (he said the trip cost him half his monthly salary). Népszabadság admits that previous left-wing governments could well be accused of corruption too, but believes “the magnitude” is higher at present.

Tags: corruption