Brown Rain and Tear Gas
Hungarian political theater at its best
Although the world financial crisis has grabbed the media spotlight lately, many within Hungary wonder what will happen as we slowly approach the end of this year’s “marching season”. The reason for this is because annual anti-government protest, which runs from mid-September until the end of October, had already gotten off to a shaky start.
Despite 1,500 reinforcements from all parts of the country as well as the promise of help from police services abroad, the Hungarian authorities failed to contain violent protesters at the end of last month. Moreover, this year political clowns from both the left and the right did their best to put on a circus worth watching, but in the end it all turned out to be a non-event. What did transpire, however, was the revelation that even with its strength in numbers and weaponry the Hungarian police are totally incompetent when it comes to dealing with public protest.
Ever since the national elections of 2006, the third week in September has become a rallying point for anti-government protest. Two years ago on September 18th people took to the streets when secret audio tapes revealed that Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany had unashamedly admitted before the party faithful that they had systematically told lies in order to win the election and gain power. Such revelations naturally shocked and angered many from all sides of the political spectrum.
Yet the general feeling of ferment and rebellion which then had brought people to the streets has gradually dissipated. With the exception of a few hard-core radicals, most simply no longer pay attention to what the Prime Minister says or does. People have become used to the lies which continue to seep from the government. Realizing that there is no way to constitutionally remove the Prime Minister by force, most have adopted a “grin and bear it” attitude and instead look forward to the 2010 election when they hope to call the present government to account.
Given the protests of previous years and the turbulent political climate of the present, however, strategists in support of the present government anticipated what they believed would be another year of substantial anti-government protest. As a result, they hoped to curb these protests by taking the initiative with protests of their own planned throughout Budapest on September 20th. One of these was a rally to highlight the discrimination faced by the Roma minority. Similarly, pseudo-liberal relics from the past, among them the renowned writer Gyorgy Conrad, held their own rally not that far away. This rally was supposed to represent a re-launch of the “Democratic Charter” movement of the early 1990s in which they (and many others who were noticeably absent at the present rally) took part.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the political spectrum right-wing nationalists also decided to use the day in order to propagate their message. A motorcycle rally was organized by “patriotic” bikers and a protest march by an assorted grouping of nationalists and radicals drawing attention to the anti-Hungarian policies of the present government were planned.
While all these demonstrations were planned for September 20th, the actual commemoration of the Prime Minister’s “lying speech” of two years ago was a few days earlier. However, since that date fell on a weekday this year, political strategists decided to organize their events for the weekend.
This was their first, and perhaps biggest, miscalculation. As Hungarians are now more in tune with the workings of a market economy, they have also come to value their weekends in much the same way as others do within the consumer societies of the west. Thus, most people decided not to waste their time attending a political demonstration. Instead, most decided to use their time more wisely -- taking it easy and relaxing at home from a harrowing work week or spending their free time in one of the myriad shopping centers dotted throughout the city.
Not only this, but the weather wasn’t kind to the organizers either. Cool, cloudy, and wet weather is enough of an excuse to keep most Hungarian demonstrators at bay. In this Central European country, it’s difficult to start an uprising if it’s raining.
Regardless of these and other obvious signs to the contrary, the authorities braced themselves for trouble. Their main fear was that demonstrators from the different rallies would mix and attack each other. As a result, a quasi state of emergency was imposed on Budapest. This meant that a person could be stopped on the street and searched for no apparent reason. As the day of reckoning approached, state media began to broadcast messages of foreboding; as an extra precaution, cars were towed from the specified areas.
The authorities and media needn’t have bothered much. For both the left and right, the day was a dismal failure. At the rallies planned by the political left, only a fraction turned up. Organizers had expected about 30,000 people; in the end, a total of about 3,000 people attended.
The same could be said about the rallies planned by the political right, where the numbers were even less. Unlike their counterparts, however, their demonstrations didn’t go so peacefully. The march by nationalists and radicals ended in violence as demonstrators clashed with police. Protesters threw rocks, bottles, and other objects at the police who responded with tear gas.
It’s still not clear who actually started the violence. Marchers claim that the police started firing tear gas as the demonstrators approached a Soviet war memorial, the focal point for the protest. The police, on the other hand, accuse the demonstrators of attacking them first.
In the end, the running battles with the police were minor compared to other like events in the past. In about an hour it was all over and the cleanup was also just as quick. Damage was limited to smashed store fronts and a police vehicle was smashed and set alight. Fifteen protesters were arrested and six people were injured, five policeman and an elderly person. It’s unclear whether this person was hurt from debris flying from the protesters or from the police.
Although there were about 150 or so demonstrators involved in the violence, the police nevertheless had some difficulty in controlling them. This was obviously due to the incompetence of the police more than anything else, as exemplified by the fact that one officer lost his gun (it was later recovered) and about a dozen and a half police shields went missing. Most of them were eventually recovered.
Limousine Liberals
While the mainstream media focused on the run up to the demonstrations and its brief aftermath, the importance of the day’s events was not in the fear of what might have happened and the petty violence that had ensued. Rather, the demonstrations on September 20th showed the extent to which political groupings on all sides are in crisis.
Nowhere is this more apparent than on the political left. Ever since the collapse of the Liberal-Socialist coalition in the spring of this year following a referendum which overwhelmingly rejected the government’s health-care “reforms”, the political left in Hungary has been struggling to find its footing. Much of this is due to the economic realities which have revealed the bankruptcy of neo-liberalist economic policy for what it really is.
Ironically, while the former junior coalition partner, the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ) or so-called “Liberals” have been vociferous lately in its attacks against the minority Socialist government’s economic policy, it was they who were actually in charge of key ministries and subsequently responsible for economic policy over the past six years. As a party which championed privatization, deregulation, tax cuts, and other policies which runs counter to what is commonly understood as liberalism in the west, they shaped the outcomes to which they now hold their former coalition partner accountable.
As a result of this, liberals in Hungary find themselves in crisis as many are finding it hard to reconcile these differences. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that party strategists have decided to invoke the nationalist card. The renewed rise of fascism was propounded by the writer Conrad and others in order to divert attention from the real dangers facing the country: an excessive dose of capitalism which has created enormous social inequalities. Subsequently, a majority of the population’s standard of living has been drastically lowered and thousands impoverished as a result. When confronted about this sad fact during a recent interview, all that Conrad could do was shrug his shoulders.
At the demonstration in Budapest in September, Conrad further tried to shrug off the burden of responsibility by doing his best to theatrically demonstrate what he termed the menace of “brown rain” (an allusion to the brown uniforms of Hitler’s Nazis). He and others on stage opened their umbrellas, arranged in a red, white and green row (ironically symbolizing the country’s national colors) in a show of defiance. It was uncertain whether this performance by Conrad was an attempt to break into the world of theater now that his influence in the world of literature appears to be on the wane.
The uncertainties and divisiveness experienced by many liberals have made themselves felt also among Hungary’s minority Roma population as well. September’s demonstration clearly showed that the Roma are not a homogenous group. Indeed, the schism between the liberals and socialists in Hungary was reflected within the Roma, as the “liberal faction” led by Aladar Horvath accused his socialist counterpart of politicizing the minority issue and taking it to the streets. Meanwhile the right wing Roma faction, aligned with the main opposition FIDEZ party, stayed away from the event altogether.
Apart from a poor turnout, the Roma demonstration was besieged by controversy. The leader of the socialist faction, Orban Kolompar, is accused of embezzlement along with his wife and another relative. Media reports also claim that many Roma were paid and bussed into Budapest in order to attend the rally.
As with the liberals, the country’s Roma leaders prefer to divert attention from the real and complex problems facing their communities rather than tackling these issues head on. Hence, Roma leaders claim that Hungary’s Roma population is undergoing its worst experience since the Second World War. Not only is this claim exaggerated, what they fail to mention is that the neo-liberalist policies enacted by their political masters lies at the root of the problems faced by the Roma. It’s these devastating policies which have turned rural communities into virtual ghost towns and robbed from the Roma their livelihood. As with minority populations throughout the industrial world, the inability to make a decent living couple with bleak prospects for the future leads many down to the road to substance abuse and crime. This, in turn, provokes a spiral of discrimination and conflict within society which is then often exploited by vested political and economic interests.
Chaotic Conservatives
Perhaps the most visible example of the uncertainties and divisiveness felt at all levels of Hungarian society is the chaotic state of the political right. For the past few weeks, both the conservative Hungarian Democratic Forum (the MDF) and the FIDESZ party have been embroiled in a scandal involving espionage and the secret police. This scandal has now extended to include the ruling socialists as well.
The scandal all started with a MDF party congress in where a new leader was to be chosen. As is customary on the political right, choosing a party leader is a mundane affair as there is rarely an opposing candidate. At times when a candidate is forthcoming, this person usually backs out at the last minute as backroom wheeling and dealing effectively decides who will be the party leader and not the delegates. This was the case previously with the MDF, as the incumbent, Ibolya David, has never had to face an opponent for the party leadership.
Occasionally, however, an opponent withstands the coercion and seeks to take their campaign to the very end. In this case, right-wing party congresses usually end up in a fiasco and the party ultimately splinters. In some cases, it even totally falls apart and disappears from the political scene altogether. Such was the case with Hungary’s two oldest parties, the Christian Democrats and the Smallholders.
The radical right MIEP went through a similar process earlier this year. It simply shut out opposing delegates. As for the MDF, it was more original this time round. David accused her opponent of espionage and for reasons still not entirely clear her opponent then dropped out of the race. He was subsequently kicked out of the party.
The accusations of espionage eventually spilled over to include members of the main opposition party the FIDESZ and the country’s secret services. Ultimately, as with alls such scandals, the while affair turned into a complex web of mudslinging to the extent that most people had no idea what was going on and the whole issue gradually faded into insignificance.
Politics aside, the disarray on the right was also evident in the demonstrations which took place. One marcher put on a swastika arm band but was quickly told by organizers to take it off. Nevertheless, the episode was enough to tarnish the image the marchers had hoped to portray. This, coupled with the violence which soon followed, buried any form of legitimacy that right-wing “patriots” expected to convey. The right-wing blogger, Tomcat, went so far as to lament afterward that they had been dealt a blow by the events of that day.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Hungarian Guard, a paramilitary right-wing group dedicated to what they deem as “law and order”, resigned unexpectedly. He later accused the organization’s political sponsor, the Jobbik Party, of selling them out. The criticism was specifically aimed at the new leadership of the party. While the Hungarian Guard acknowledged that their leader had resigned, they also noted that his resignation was due to him being unable to carry the weight of his responsibilities.
In what has become a characteristic trait of the right in Hungary the only opponent worse than someone on the left is someone else on the right. Consequently, political attacks within the right are often more severe than those against the other side of the political spectrum. As the range of right-wing views continue to diversify in Hungary, so does the level of animosity. As a result, the level of disillusionment among right-wing voters is almost complete leaving many on the verge of despair.
With both the political left and political right in disorder, and the police clearly incapable and incompetent when it comes to handling large protests, many are keen as to what will happen this year during October 23rd, which not only commemorates the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 but also marks an end to the Hungarian “marching season”. With over 700 events planned the authorities indubitably have a lot on their hands.
In many ways, Hungary’s political process has come full circle. Political malaise coupled with a stagnant economic system led to the collapse of the dictatorship in Hungary as the regime simply rotted from within. Ironically, this same scene is now playing out again: the political system is collapsing as a result of the rot from within, which is further exacerbated by a stagnant economy. The only difference is that now no one has any idea of what comes next. Twenty years ago it was easy: democracy, freedom, privatization, etc. Yet now it seems that democracy has reached its limits, freedom has become meaningless, and there is nothing left to privatize. The future for many is indeed uncertain.