Mayor Karacsony a 'symbol' at the helm of Budapest + video

Left-wing opposition politicians’ careers do not depend on voters.

Budapest, 2023. július 15. Karácsony Gergely fõpolgármester beszédet mond a 28. Budapest Pride-on 2023. július 15-én. MTI/Kovács Tamás Fotó: Kovács Tamás

What Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony is doing at the helm of the capital can be described as symbolic city management, Eszter Parkanyi, an analyst at the Center for Fundamental Rights explained to Hir FM radio. "Symbolically, Budapest is led by the mayor, but in reality, [former leftist PM] Ferenc Gyurcsany has the largest group in the Budapest Assembly.”

On the other hand, Gergely Karacsony only likes to do the parts of his job that get him into the press or on social media, the analyst added.

He shows off his cat on Facebook on World Cat Day, and now he is posting about meeting Polish hippies and drinking beer with the Dutch at the Sziget Festival. The only thing we don't know is the language of the conversation, as Mr Karacsony has admitted to having a “hyper-passive” command of English.

Ms Parkanyi noted.

Gergely Karacsony is opposed by practically all interest groups in the capital, said Janos Zila, another analyst at the Center for Fundamental Rights. Recently, the mayor has also had a confrontation with the Automobile Club and the National Ambulance Service. 

The ambulances reported that the so-called "Geri poles” separating the bicycle lanes, were making their work difficult. After that, instead of trying to solve the problem, the mayor's staff criticized the ambulance service, which is astonishing," the analyst pointed out.

The so-called “rolling dollars” scandal was also raised in the program. Members of Hungary's left-wing opposition understand that their political careers do not depend on the Hungarian electorate, but on someone else, the American left-wing circles, from whom they received support before last year's parliamentary elections, Mr Zila said. This is why they take positions that are at odds with the people on issues such as the war, migration and gender, he pointed out. 

The program can be watched here:

Cover photo: Mayor Gergely Karacsony giving a speech at the 28th Budapest Pride on 15 July 2023 (Photo: MTI/Tamas Kovacs)