22-year-old appointed Assistant State Secretary

Opposition outlets find it abnormal to name a very young woman Assistant State Secretary for Youth, while a pro-government commentator accuses them of duplicity in condemning the nomination.

31-year-old Boglárka Illés, Assistant State Secretary for Youth and Opportunity Creation was elected Vice Chairperson of Fidelitas, Fidesz’s youth organisation this autumn and thus resigned from her post. She has been replaced by 22-year-old university student Zsófia Rácz, who has worked as a political analyst with the pro-government Alapjogokért (For Fundamental Rights) think tank and has been Hungarian Youth Delegate to the United Nations.

On Klub Radio, former Socialist Justice Minister Péter Bárándy ruled out the possibility that a 22 year old person could have the indispensable maturity and knowledge to serve as a high ranking government official. He also deplored the government’s decision to amend a law to allow for her to be nominated, as until now, such appointments were conditional on a university degree. ‘Tailored legislation amounts to negation of the law’, he said.

On Hírklikk, Péter Lovász thinks that the young Assistant State Secretary should have rejected the appointment. At any rate, he suggests, Zsófia Rácz is probably a sane person, unlike those who appointed her.

In Népszava, András Kósa lists a series of examples when the Fidesz government has amended laws in order to nominate people for various positions. He recalls that by contrast, twenty years ago, Tamás Deutsch, a founding Fidesz member (and now MEP) was not appointed Minister of Youth and Sports before graduating from Budapest’s Eötvös Loránd University.

In Magyar Hírlap, on the other hand, Zsófia Jobbágyi accuses such critics of double standards. They failed to protest when 18-year-old Blanka Nagy who became famous for her vulgar language about prominent Fidesz representatives, including the President of the Republic, ran for local council membership as an opposition candidate in October. (For Blanka Nagy’s début in politics see BudaPost, January 19.) She also mentions the example of Ádám Ficsor who at the tender age of 28 was appointed Cabinet Minister in charge of the Secret Services in Ferenc Gyurcsány’s government, eleven years ago.

Tags: Fidesz