Government Audit Office papers released
October 8th, 2016The leading left-wing daily accuses the Prime Minister of cowardice and abuse of power in connection with the government’s feud with a group of liberal NGOs two years ago.
As a result of a Freedom of Information lawsuit the Government’s Audit Office has released a letter in which the Prime Minister asked the auditors to inspect the operations of the NGOs running the so-called Norwegian Fund (See BudaPost, May through October 2014).
In an angry front page editorial, Népszabadság chastises the Prime Minister because his subordinates had to be compelled by the court to release the document. The left-wing daily interprets that reticence as proof that the Prime Minister was hiding his role in launching the inquiry into the operations of a group of liberal NGOs. On this basis Népszabadság calls the Prime Minister a coward. The authors accuse PM Orbán of posing as a courageous and manly freedom fighter while leaving the ‘dirty work’ of attacking his enemies to proxies whom he instructs from behind the scenes. Ultimately, the authorities did not find serious irregularities and the prosecutors closed the files without indicting the participants at the Norwegian Fund programmes. The government then settled the matter by concluding a new agreement with the Norwegian side.