Hunor's formula for government: everything except Hungarian interests

Today, on his Facebook page, the leader of the Transylvanian Hungarians informed the Transylvanian Hungarian voters who elected him that Siegfried Mureșan had presented the Alliance with his government program, which Kelemen Hunor deemed "supportable." Why? Well, that's not really clear, because beyond broad generalities, no Hungarian interest whatsoever featured among the negotiation points.

The first and also the longest part of the post is nothing but nonsense:

"Siegfried Mureșan presented the main points of the government program being drafted to RMDSZ's parliamentary factions. A two-year government program is in the works. What matters to us is that during this time we solve as many problems as possible that make people's everyday lives harder. Anyone living on a pension feels exactly how much less the same amount is worth after two years of high inflation. That's why we insist that pensions be indexed in 2027. It's also important that there be no tax increase: the extra burdens can't be pushed onto people again. Those working in the public sector, in education and healthcare need to know under what rules their pay will be set. That's why we asked for the pay law to also be included in the program, and for it to be adopted by the end of the year. All of this also requires economic growth."

Sure, except I have never in my life heard, seen, or read of a politician trying to win votes by saying that, if they come to power, they will raise taxes, starve pensioners, and spend all the money on their own relatives in the public sector. So this was a fine load of nonsense, while the Romanian media reported in more detail on Mureșan's government program — you can find a short but pointed summary of it on Ugar. As for what the ordinary Hungarian voter would expect from the president of RMDSZ, this is all that was made public:

"At the same time, the government program must also give real guarantees for respecting the rights of the Hungarian community."

As for what these rights are in RMDSZ's interpretation, and above all what these guarantees would consist of, not a word was said, nor was it clarified what ultimately became of the conditional mood used here — was it given or not? Who knows? Certainly not the ordinary Hungarian voter following the leader of the Transylvanian Hungarians on Facebook. Not from this post, nor in general. Ugar has mentioned this before, but we'll note it again: this is exactly what we asked Kelemen Hunor in the middle of the government crisis — namely, what Transylvanian Hungarian interests would be kept in mind during the potential government-formation negotiations. But the president of RMDSZ has no time to satisfy the curiosity of some independent press outlet; instead, he satisfies his partners in Bucharest. True, they pay better.

Still, the Facebook post is telling. It is telling because it shows very clearly that RMDSZ is no longer a Hungarian advocacy organization but a Romanian party that has fully integrated into the political landscape along the Dâmbovița, while the Hungarian ethnic community is left playing the role of a mere voting machine. Yet even seen this way, it's not a strong post, because both Grindeanu, who opposes Mureșan, and even AUR expressed a more concrete opinion on his government program. Of the saying "half water, half nothing," in the Alliance's case it's more accurate to say "neither water nor anything."

"Based on the program presented so far, I see this as a supportable direction."

So: we don't know what the government program is, and we certainly don't know what the government guarantees are for respecting the rights of the Hungarian minority, but the direction is supportable.

"Siegfried Mureșan said he would go through with the parliamentary vote even if he doesn't manage to gather all the necessary votes by then. I understand his reasoning. We too will continue the negotiations."

This is perhaps the most important, brief, ambiguous jab in the whole Facebook post. What negotiations are they continuing? Just a few days ago, Hunor was also hinting that Mureșan should hand back his mandate because he can't form a government, and shouldn't bring his government before parliament if it's not going to be voted through anyway. In this Hunor-esque logic lies the dread of early elections: if Mureșan's government also fails to get the 233 votes, then the two mandatory nomination rounds required by the constitution will have been completed, and the sixty-day time limit will have been well exceeded — from there, it will hardly be possible to stuff the early elections back into the bottle. Hunor's sentence, "I understand his reasoning, we continue the negotiations," could just as well be understood as continuing the collusion with Grindeanu that they had already begun earlier.

"We haven't yet discussed the structure of the government or the list of ministers."

Reassuring. Loci Antal is expected on Mykonos, runway two.

Anna Karczag