Under the Orbán Government for the past 10 years, Hungary has been drifting away from the European norms of the rule of law and a free market economy. Only a change of government can turn this ship around. Fidesz can be defeated by a unified opposition at the next parliamentary election, if political parties share a common vision of the country’s future.

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With the help of an electoral law cleverly designed to magnify his power, Viktor Orbán has secured a long-standing two-thirds majority in parliament. He has gradually dismantled the rule of law and replaced it with authoritarian control. Orbán depicts his rule as one of “national cooperation”, but his regime fails to strengthen unity; instead, the country has been torn in two. Only pro-government voters qualify as “patriotic”, while the opposition in its entirety is labelled “unpatriotic” by Fidesz. This government has eliminated a range of social benefits and continued to increase its power, even under the guise of anti-pandemic measures. The municipalities are drained of their main resources; the hundreds of thousands who lose their jobs face a tight-fisted government, while public funds are channeled in unprecedented amounts to a well-defined and narrow circle of businesspeople. 

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The V21 Group drafted its diagnosis in the spring of 2019 in a position paper entitled “Breaking the Silence”. The local elections last autumn proved that vast numbers of people want a profound change in Hungary. The citizens understood that a real political turn requires the closest cooperation between all the opposition parties. The majority of voters expect the opposition to end the present conditions of a ‘one-party state’ and provide the socio-political structure of the future Hungary. To achieve this goal, we need a convincing common vision, capable of gaining majority support. 

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It is the duty of the opposition parties, movements and civil groups to lay the foundations of a fair state, offering equal opportunities to all. By the 2022 parliamentary elections, all Opposition candidates should represent these shared objectives. As a common basis, the V21 Group, using the government experience and professional expertise of its members, is offering a concise platform to build upon. This National Minimum Program is our contribution to creating a shared vision of the future for the citizens, and to establish a new approach to governance based on sound values.

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We are firmly convinced that the country needs a change of regime. Orbán's “National Cooperation System” has to be abolished, but the pre-2010 socio-political conditions must also be superseded. This is the only way to prevent any future political group which seizes power, from abolishing the rule of law and splitting our nation in two.

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According to our proposal, Parliament should involve the entire society in drafting a new and fair Constitution which would then be adopted by referendum. We recommend that the new Constitution guarantee the following for all Hungarian citizens:

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•         Equal opportunities and a fair livelihood,

•         Fair market economy with strong employee representation,

•         Rule of law and freedom of speech,

•         A foreign policy focusing on Euro-Atlantic values and the real interests of the nation.

 

These central objectives are detailed in the 21 points below.