Fidesz parliamentary leader Tibor Navracsics gave warning in a press interview on Thursday that Hungary would face very tough times during its exit from the current economic crisis.
“The road leading out of the forest is more or less as long as the road into it [...] What Fidesz promises is to try to pool creative energies and put Hungary back on its feet,” Navracsics said in an interview published in Thursday’s Nepszabadsag newspaper.
The conservative party is widely expected to win a landslide in the April elections, with some polls indicating that the party could possibly secure a two-thirds majority.
Asked about Fidesz’s priorities on power, Navracsics said that corruption should be wiped out and the burdens on businesses eased.
After the elections Fidesz would be quick to submit a motion for downsizing parliament and the local councils and drafting a new budget for this year “to signal the new direction”, he said.
Navracsics said that Fidesz would start the election campaign and publish its election manifesto on March 15, four weeks ahead of the elections.
The party’s prime-minister candidate “will obviously be Viktor Orban”, he said.
Asked if a sweeping victory would prompt Fidesz to cement its power for 15 to 20 years and introduce a “one-party system” in the style of Putin or Chavez, Navracsics said, “neither Fidesz, nor Orban has ever threatened democracy [...] You may or may not like Orban, but you can never question his firm commitment to the Hungarian Constitution and the constitutional system.”
Noting that Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai had portrayed the radical nationalist Jobbik party as an anti-democratic “monster” recently, Nepszabadsag asked Navracsics to give his definition of Jobbik.
“I do not define Jobbik. We are not in the business of defining one another. We would like to win the elections and form a government,” he said.