The press tour of Transparency International Hungary was held on a cabrio bus and visited the headquarters of the parties which have Budapest mayoral candidates in order to become acquainted with parties’ reports about campaign financing. Members of the press were not received by the campaign staff of MSZP and Fidesz.

During the expert meeting Endre Hann, executive director of Medián, presented their new research which examined public opinion about party financing. “The opinions about party financing are highly influenced by the political disillusionment of voters and by the rejection of the parties and the political elite. The majority of the people think that parties manage their finances poorly and do not do their best in order to raise money legally”, Endre Hann outlined the opinions of the respondents.

Róbert László, election expert of Political Capital (PC), said that the outdated system of nomination slips – which also raises data protection problems – is obviously a hotbed of corruption. It is well known that nominations slips are sold and bought illegally on the black market, while parties are reluctant – just like in the case of the party finance reform – to introduce alternative solutions, which could reduce the possibility of corrupt practices to a minimum. The standpoint of Róbert László and of PC has not changed since 2007: most problems of candidacy could be solved with introducing election deposits.

“In the past years the parties were unable to reach a consensus in the question of campaign financing. The previously working method of synthesizing the different proposals was unsuccessful – the parties focused defeating each other rather than looking for solutions. The situation has changed since then: the two-thirds majority of Fidesz could solve this issue and there is also a chance for a compromise. Of course, the two-thirds majority is only an opportunity, not a guarantee”, said Orsolya Szomszéd, senior analyst of Nézőpont Institute.

József Perlaky-Papp, PR strategist, professor of the Budapest College of Communication and Business, commented about the expected election results: “Since the middle of last year there has been a special ‘ice age’ which has frozen party preferences. It is still the Fidesz which dominates political issues, so it has even increased its support. Everyday political disputes remain unnoticed by the great masses of voters. Therefore, under the current circumstances, we do not expect major surprises.”

Synovate Consulting has examined the message suggested by election billboards with the help of the so-called Censydiam method. “Based on the findings of the study Fidesz and MSZP emphasize community values, while LMP focuses rather on individual values in its campaign”, presented the results of the study Laura Rabcsánszki, senior analyst.

The event of Transparency International Hungary aimed at drawing attention to the need of a campaign finance reform in the finish of the election campaign. “In order to clean up the current system as soon as possible, it is inevitable to introduce campaign accounts, to strengthen the role of supervisory institutions and to register political advertisements”, said Noémi Alexa, executive director of Transparency International Hungary.