November 1, 2013
According to recent studies, more than 50 democracies around the world are on the verge of a “democratic meltdown”, due to the failure of local political elites to respect universally valid democratic principles. As the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council Europe, the Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament, and most recently the entire European Parliament have warned, under the leadership of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán Hungary has the dubious distinction of being the first member of the European Union to join the club of nations in which democracy has become an endangered species.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and President of the EU Council Herman Van Rompuy in happier times.
What’s all the fuss about? One of the major issues for European lawmakers is the Orbán government’s well documented efforts to stifle political debate, competition and dissent at home. Fearful of losing the next national election (which is scheduled for early 2014), Orbán’s government recently put together a new electoral law. The new law has redrawn electoral boundaries so as to maximize the competitive advantages of Orbán’s so-called “Regime of National Cooperation” and gives ethnic Hungarians living as far away from Hungary as Canada and the United States, the right to cast a ballot in next spring’s general elections.
The law does not require diaspora voters to be residents of Hungary or to pay taxes in that country, but nevertheless gives them a decisive advantage in determining who will govern Hungary after 2014. And this week, Hungarian President János Áder, the spiritual father of the new electoral law, has embarked on a North American tour on taxpayers’ money to drum up support for his increasingly unpopular and ever more radically right-wing party colleagues back home. The Canadian-Hungarian Democratic Charter (CHDC) calls upon Canadian and American officials and on concerned citizens everywhere to keep a sharp eye on the efforts of the Orbán government to globalize its anti-democratic practices. Respect for the rules of free and fair competition, and transparent campaign financing must be upheld. The entry into Canada and the USA of campaign practices that are contrary to the letter and the spirit of the law in these countries could set a dangerous precedent and may harm the civil liberties of people living here.
According to latest census figures, close to 1.3 million ethnic Hungarians live in North America – 300,000 in Canada alone – and their vote could well decide the outcome of Hungary’s next general election. Many in the North American Hungarian diaspora left Hungary decades ago, to escape Communist oppression. The majority of these look upon the born-again Christian and staunchly anti-communist Orbán as a kindred spirit. Yet they would be better off listening to lawmakers in the European Parliament or to respected sociologist Shlomo Avineri: anti-communism does not necessarily make you a democrat.
Orbán’s Party, FIDESZ and their coalition partner, the KDNP, were elected to office in May, 2010 with a large majority, and with the promise of providing a million new jobs, economic prosperity and an end to government corruption. The socialist-liberal coalition government that was in power during the previous eight years had clearly lost the confidence of the people due to its own political shortcomings. But instead of implementing badly needed reforms, the Orbán government simply opted for a bizarre redistributive policy mix, penalizing the less fortunate and those who could offer little resistance to a FIDESZ-led financial grab.
The government nationalized private pension plans, lined the pockets of the domestic oligarchy, took control of the mass media and conveniently forgot about reducing unemployment and providing prosperity for all. Corruption is higher than it has ever been. Instead of strengthening the country’s democratic foundations and providing a broader base for reasonable debate and discourse, the government has ruthlessly silenced dissent against its misguided policies. As a consequence of these predatory actions, Hungary’s economic and political stability has been seriously compromised. In three years, close to 500,000 – 5% of the population – have left the country to try their luck elsewhere. In recent polls, half of the population under 30 years of age has indicated that they would rather live abroad than live in their homeland.
The off-shore campaign promises to be particularly bitter in Hungary’s immediate border regions, where more than 3 million ethnic Hungarians have been left stranded as a consequence of the Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War I. Orbán’s Regime of National Cooperation has recently designated the anniversary of the close to one-hundred year old Versailles decision as a day of national mourning. It is leaving no stone unturned to capitalize on the sentiments of those who still yearn for the days of “Greater Hungary”. Two years ago, the Regime of National Cooperation sent one of the country’s most notorious anti-Semitic historians, Ernő Raffay, on a cross-Canada speaking tour. Raffay, who is a long-time personal friend of Hungary’s Canadian ambassador, is known to be the prime mover of the thesis that Hungary’s territorial losses at the end of WWI are the results of a Jewish, free-mason conspiracy.
The rise of Fidesz has been accompanied by the appearance of far-right groups such as Jobbik, the third largest party in parliament.
The Hungarian government has orchestrated a campaign of intimidation and witch-hunts that sometimes tip into physical threats against those who beg to differ with its self-professed democratic virtues. Professor Kim Scheppele, Director of Princeton University’s respected academic program in Law and Public Affairs is one of many commentators who have personally felt the long arm of the Orbán government’s wrath against anyone who dares to criticize it. Writing in the New York Times recently, Scheppele issued the following warning: “Hungary is in trouble with its critics right now because of the new and troubling constitutional Fourth Amendment that just went into effect, adding to three years of other troubling legal developments. Fidesz tries to turn all of its critics into agents for the “other side”. But that is a public relations trick. When a party brings all institutions of government under its control and attacks the independent judiciary, we are no longer in the world of normal party politics. Instead, we are in the world where Hungary’s very existence as a state under the rule of law is in question. That is why I have gotten involved. Since I started writing about Hungary, I have received mountains of hate mail, been ambushed by non-academic criticism in academic settings and gotten death threats to the point where I need security on my trips back to Budapest. I just happen to stand in the way of what Fidesz wants, and I’m sure I’m not alone. They are ruthless and relentless with their critics”.
The off-shore campaigning in North America, which Hungarian President János Áder kicked off in Toronto on October 23rd promises to be particularly threatening to the civil liberties of those who believe in free speech and open political debate in North America. On the occasion of Raffay’s visit to Canada, his critics in this country, including the signatories of this press release, were targeted in a bitter hate campaign as “disciples of Satan, anti-Hungarian, Communist agitators, and anti-life crusaders who want to return the communist dictatorship in Hungary”. None other than Hungary’s ambassador to Canada, László Pordány, spoke in a radio address about the need to wage war against “anti-patriotic forces” in major Canadian cities, specifically listing Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver as key battlegrounds. Mr. Pordány was already laying the groundwork for a vicious Hungarian election campaign on Canadian soil, targeting Canadian citizens who raise their voices against anti-democratic, anti-Semitic and racist attacks in Hungary.
L-R: Hungarian President János Adér, Hungary’s Ambassador to Canada Lászlo Podrány at a 1956 commemoration event in Toronto on October 23, 2013.
Concordia University professor and international spokesperson of the CHDC, András Göllner says:
“The anti-democratic practices of the Orbán government may well spill over the borders of that country and create conditions that should cause considerable concern to civil libertarians in Canada and the USA. Like Kim Scheppele in the US, many of us have been intimidated and threatened in public as well as in private after we raised our voices against the Orbán regime. We have been expelled from our communities for practicing our civil liberties and we are portrayed as pariahs in the émigré media that is largely in the service of Orbán and his government.”
The Canadian-Hungarian Democratic Charter’s spokespersons declare that:
“The failure to respect universally valid democratic principles has an impact far beyond the borders of Hungary. The virus of autocracy does not recognize international borders and is capable of setting off an international pandemic. Tolerance of antidemocratic governments such as Orbán’s will simply demonstrate to other would be autocrats that the road is open towards autocracy in Europe and the rest of the world. We must not allow this to happen.”
Dissenters and critics of the Orbán’s Regime of National Cooperation living in Canada are frequently targeted with libelous criticisms orchestrated by Hungary’s local diplomatic missions, and there are increasing reports about Hungarian secret service operatives actively working with local sympathizers of the Orbán government to defame and intimidate local critics of the regime. The Canadian-Hungarian Democratic Charter calls upon authorities on both sides of the 49th parallel to be vigilant and to join in protecting the civil liberties of Canadian and American citizens against the bullying tactics of the Orbán regime’s anti-democratic and militant beneficiaries.
The Canadian-Hungarian Democratic Charter is a non-partisan, global, civil rights advocacy group, based in Montreal, Canada. It is not affiliated with any political party. It was launched on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the Hungarian people’s heroic uprising against communist tyranny. According to its founders, “the initiative is a salute and tribute to the example and sacrifices that Hungarians have made to promote and uphold universally valid democratic principles. We hope our efforts will help the citizens of Hungary to once again enjoy the fruits of their past and current sacrifices. We are committed to helping them to regain the respect their country may have suffered as a consequence of the self-serving, predatory actions of their current leaders. Our efforts are undertaken in solidarity with the friends of democracy wherever they may be.”
Signed:
Dr. András B. Göllner, Founder and International Spokesperson.
Emeritus Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec.
Dr. Christopher Adam, Founder and Spokesperson.
Lecturer, Department of History, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ont., 2008-2013.
Dr. Éva Balogh, Founder and Spokesperson.
Former Professor of History and Dean of Morse College at Yale University (Retired) New Haven, Conn.
Dr. Stevan Harnad, Founder and Spokesperson.
Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Science at Université du Quebec á Montreal. QC.
Prof. Peter W. Klein, Founder and Spokesperson.
Director, School of Journalism, University of British Columbia. Vancouver, BC.
Dr. Imre Szeman, Founder and Spokesperson.
Canada Research Chair in Cultural Studies and Professor of English, Film Studies, and Sociology, University of Alberta.
Dr. András B. Göllner is the founder of the Canadian-Hungarian Democratic Charter and its national spokesperson. He is a dual Hungarian-Canadian citizen who immigrated to Hungary in 1956. He completed his undergraduate and graduate studies in Canada and earned a PhD in Political Economy from the London School of Economics. Dr. Göllner specializes in political economy and communication and has published three books, as well as dozens of scholarly articles and journalistic commentaries. Since the fall of communism in 1989, his writings have also appeared frequently in Hungary as well, published in leading newspapers and periodicals. Since 1977, Dr. Göllner has taught in the Department of Political Science at Montreal’s Concordia University, where he currently holds the distinguished rank of Emeritus Associate Professor.
The original article can be found here.