Cooperation

Krisztina Baranyi is a disgruntled, despotic leader with an aggressive mindset. Let us remember that she was the only Budapest district leader who at the beginning of her term refused to attend consultations with the government; despite the best interests of the district’s residents. Among her first single-person decisions, she cancelled well-functioning projects introduced by the previous Fidesz leadership, then sacked with immediate effect the manager of the local media company because – in her opinion – he was not impartial, though she was unable to prove this and lost the ensuing lawsuit.

The local government’s board of councillors has been a scene of local feuds for years; in addition to her former senior advisor, almost all coalition partners – to whom she owed her election victory in 2019 – have abandoned Baranyi. The mayor features on national party lists and seeks to ingratiate herself with the Mayor of Budapest instead of dealing with the district’s problems. She has no time left for the affairs of Ferencváros.

By contrast, the local Fidesz-KDNP alliance is strong and united. A plan of action was in place already in 2019 which we handed over to the new Baranyi–Gegesy leadership; however, they never started its implementation. Now, all we have to do is take these programmes out of the drawer, dust them off and bring back to the local government experts who are able to implement them. This could enable Ferencváros to start on a course of growth again. Similar to the period between 2010-2019, also in the future we will be willing and able to cooperate with all councillors who want to work for the district, rather than engage in self-serving, ideologically motivated political action.

I. Refurbishment projects

1. Immediate resumption of block rehabilitation

During its whole term, the Baranyi-Gegesy-led local government refurbished a single apartment building. As a result, hundreds of families are compelled to live in mould-infested, hazardous, propped-up buildings because there are no refurbished local government homes to move them to.

During the 9 years of the previous Fidesz leadership, we comprehensively refurbished as many as 22 local government-owned apartment buildings, while the whole of Budapest had reason to be proud of the 9th district urban rehabilitation programme that was also recognised with international awards. In 2019, we developed the ‘Tidy house, clean yard’ programme which we likewise handed over to the new district leadership. However, Baranyi and her people chose to not embark on its implementation. We will launch this programme once in office as Ferencváros families cannot live in undignified circumstances; we will make all local government flats self-contained.

2. Re-raising the budget for the refurbishment of privately-owned apartment buildings

The Baranyi-Gegesy local government has drastically reduced the allocation available for the refurbishment of privately-owned apartment buildings. We will immediately re-raise the amount of dedicated local government grants, and if requested, we will also provide professional support with the implementation of construction works in order to reduce the burden on families living in privately-owned apartment buildings.

3. We will submit a loft conversion programme, as part of which the local government could purchase the attic spaces of apartment buildings offered for sale and could convert them into homes available for rent. In return, the local government will agree to carry out the requested building refurbishment and conservation works at its own expense.

II. Public hygiene, public order

4. The Baranyi-Gegesy local government chose not to contradict the Mayor of Budapest and allowed hundreds of bins to be removed in Ferencváros. Our district has never before been as neglected and dirty as it is today. Therefore, we will re-install the removed bins and will re-introduce Sunday-morning bin emptying and street cleaning in busy, highly frequented locations.

5. We will review the salaries of street cleaners and gardeners working for the local government because they deserve a decent salary like everyone else.

We will bring back the park guard service to make our green areas tidy and fit for use again. We will extend park guarding responsibilities to district creche facilities and nurseries in order to better look after and to make greener the yards and gardens of these institutions. This programme could also serve to improve the climate situation.

6. The cleanliness of pavements and doorways is a priority for us all. Therefore, we will invite proposals from privately-owned apartment buildings for the procurement of high-performance cleaning equipment, thereby inviting them to undertake shared social responsibility for keeping their own environment clean and tidy.

III. Accessible local government

7. We will resume the grants for young married couples in the district as a way to thank them for starting a family in our district.

We will re-launch and widen the range of community programmes organised for pensioners, and will re-introduce the Christmas and Easter food purchase grants for the over 65s.

8. We will be a readily accessible local government, unlike the present district leadership which is engaged in one-way communication and only hears the voices that sing their praise. We will create opportunities for local residents to regularly share their opinions with us and to inform us about their problems. After all, this is the duty of a mayor and a local government.

9. The incumbent mayor maintains a hostile relationship with the flagship of our district, the local sports club Fradi. The Baranyi-Gegesy local government refuses to give the Ferencváros Gypsy Orchestra concert opportunities, favours anti-government propagandists over local artists, while in the local magazine – instead of contents concerning the residents of Ferencváros – they publish hateful opinion pieces, voicing radical political views. At the same time, the district leadership that claims to be ‘liberal’ refuses to engage in a dialogue with the Roma minority and the Asian minorities living in the district.

The residents of Ferencváros are the top priority for us; we see a partner in every person living here. District businesses, district artists, district catering establishments as well as all Hungarian and foreign citizens living in the district are equally close to our hearts.

At this time, we need everyone to make a change. Please attend the 9 June local government elections and vote for me and the candidates of Fidesz-KDNP so that together we can realise our programme and Ferencváros can again move forward.  

Let us say proudly again: Home, City, Ferencváros!