Opposition scraps Fudan university referendum plans

A left-wing commentator lambasts the opposition for giving up their idea of a local referendum on the government’s plan to build a Chinese university campus in Budapest.

In May, the Constitutional Court ruled unconstitutional the opposition’s national referendum against the construction of the Fudan University campus. Since then, opposition parties wanted to call a local referendum to stop the construction of the Chinese university. According to multiple reports, the Democratic Coalition no longer supports the referendum. Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony said that the Budapest council still opposes the construction plan, but wants to consult the local population through other means.

Népszava’s Péter Németh finds it shocking and sad that the opposition backed off the Fudan referendum. The left-wing columnist recalls that the referendum was one of the main points on the opposition programme in the April Parliamentary election. He believes that the campus is unlikely to be built in any case, due to the multiple crises Hungary is going through, but he still considers it a huge mistake for the opposition to scrap the referendum. By doing so, opposition parties further weaken their credibility, Németh contends.

Tags: Budapest, Fudan University, opposition, referendum