Referendum to cap salaries of state-owned company CEOs

A left-wing blogger welcomes the proposed referendum on capping the salaries of state-owned company CEOs. A pro-government commentator likens the plan to elements of communist ideology.

Last week, the National Election Office gave the green light to a question which  former LMP MP Gábor Vágó intends to submit to a referendum. The left-wing civil activist called for capping the salaries of CEOs employed by state-owned companies. Left-wing opposition parties including the MSZP, LMP, Together, Dialogue as well as the Twin-tailed Dog Party joined the initiative and pledged to help collecting the 200,000 signatures necessary for a referendum to be held.

Kettős Mérce’s András Jámbor welcomes the proposed referendum, on the grounds that the government should spend public resources on the health service and education rather than on high salaries for leaders of state-owned firms. The left-wing blogger recalls that Fidesz introduced a salary cap in 2010, which was later abolished, and since then such wages have skyrocketed, while wages of everyday Hungarians including public employees have increased only modestly.

In Magyar Idők, János Dénes Orbán calls the proposed referendum ‘classical communist nonsense’. The pro-government commentator thinks that the proposal is motivated by the same envy which communist ideology relied upon. Orbán contends that capping the salaries of state-owned company CEOs would force the migration of talented business leaders to the private sphere.

Tags: referendum, salaries