Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Budapest yesterday, accusing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban of organizing expensive consultations with the population, financed with public funds, pursuing party goals, reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
The nationalist Hungarian government plans to hold a public opinion poll on taxation issues in October, after a website close to the government said that the opposition plans to increase taxes if it comes to power after the parliamentary elections in 2026.
The "TISA" party The conservative opposition's Péter Magyar, who leads the polls, denied any such plans and accused Orbán of spreading lies before the election.
The prime minister regularly distributes consultations in the form of questionnaires, which the opposition says are formulated in a prescriptive manner and are intended to create an impression of popular support for his policies. Sent by post, these letters are accompanied by advertisements broadcast on television, on the Internet and on posters in public spaces.
Orbán denies that this is propaganda, saying that he simply wants to give the population a regular voice.
According to organizers, about 50,000 people gathered at the protest in central Budapest yesterday. The authorities did not give an estimate of the number of participants.