According to Gábor Vona the parliamentary elections in 2018 will be decided between Fidesz and Jobbik. He called his party the most stable opposition party. There are political differences within the community, he said, adding that this is normal in a people's party and that their unity is unquestionable. He also added that different opinion polls might show different shades of results, but the numbers prove that Jobbik is the most popular party among voters under 35 and Jobbik has the best position in terms of the rejection rate.
Vona: Orbán Viktor bukása pusztán idő kérdése, de biztos tény
Vona Gábor szerint a 2018-as országgyűlési választás a Fidesz és a Jobbik között fog eldőlni. Pártját a legstabilabb ellenzéki erőnek nevezte. Elmondta, hogy bár vannak viták, ez azonban természetes egy néppárton belül, egységük megkérdőjelezhetetlen.
Jobbik's prime minister candidate thinks one of their biggest advantages is that the party has a program, unlike the left, who can only respond to Orbánism with Anti-Orbánism. According to Gábor Vona Fidesz is a very strong opponent so strength and credibility is needed against them.
"We have to conduct an honest and trustworthy policy and step out of Viktor Orbán's coordinate system"
, he stressed.
Jobbik is already preparing to govern
Gábor Vona made it clear that they are not cooperating or forming any electoral alliance with leftist parties, because by that the party would lose its credibility. He added that there's no need for such cooperation, because weak parties are calculating, but a strong party is reaching out to the voters. The leftist parties don't really want to win the elections, their current confrontations are about the post-election positions.
Jobbik's prime minister candidate said that Hungary wants a change of government and they are waiting for a party which is capable of that. He said that Jobbik's goal is not just to replace the government, but they are already preparing to govern. Viktor Orbán is a failed politician, whose fall is bound to happen, it's only a matter of time, he added.
Jobbik stepped into the 21th century from the 20th century
"Instead of an anti-democratic and corrupt Orbán government we want a democratic and pro-people government. This is our slogan: on the side of the people. Instead of intensifying divisions, social conflicts and political ideologies, we have to strengthen the unity of the society"
, he said.
Compared to the vision of leftist parties, it's a major difference that Jobbik wants a full paradigm shift, he explained, adding that this doesn't mean that everything should be changed or thrown away. Everything the Fidesz government has done right, should be preserved. For example Jobbik would keep or further develop the measures to support families and the strict budget policy.
A Jobbik government would put the relations between the parties on new foundations and focus on constructive debates instead of empty, infertile confrontations. Furthermore, they would build bridges between the divided social groups. According to Gábor Vona these are the two things that separate the 20th century political agenda from the 21st century. In the 20th century Hungary and the Hungarian people suffered a lot and the turmoil created splits within our society. According to Jobbik's prime minister candidate 20th century parties can be recognized by the fact that they are building their political agenda on 20th century splits and historical traumas which evolved into paranoia, obsessions and hatred, only intensifying the divisions.
"21st century policy, while recognizing the existence of these splits, doesn't build its policy on them, but tries to find common goals which could build bridges"
, Gábor Vona explained. He added that Jobbik has turned into a 21th century party from a 20th century party, this is the process of becoming a people's party. It's more important where Jobbik is going to, instead of where it comes from, he added. One of Jobbik's most important goals is to improve the living standards of the Hungarian people, this is why the backbone of their program will be the wage union initiative, which was signed by the representatives of eight Central Eastern European countries on March 14.
Jobbik would promote the interest of the nation and a stronger Europe
Gábor Vona highlighted that this is the first citizens' initiative by a Hungarian party which was registered by the European Commission. Now Jobbik and its allies have one year to collect one million signatures.
European Wage Union: Eastern Central Europe asks for fair treatment and equality
With representatives coming from eight Eastern Central European countries, i.e., Hungary, Croatia, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia and Estonia, a European citizens' initiative has been launched to achieve a European Wage Union. The declaration to that effect was adopted and signed in Hotel Kempinski, Budapest.
Jobbik's prime minister candidate also mentioned that government politicians simply froze when the initiative was announced and, especially, when it was registered by the European Commission and now they are giving statements which make less and less sense.
"In order to avoid supporting the initiative, they are finding excuses which are not even part of the initiative or its goals. One of the main counterargument is that it's not possible to eliminate wage gaps overnight. But we never said that and it's not even in the initiative"
, Vona highlighted, adding that it proves that their political opponents haven't even read the initiative.
Jobbik wants the principle of "equal wages for equal work" to be included in the EU's fundamental principles and practical goals, as a kind of "step zero".
The European Union is built on the "four freedoms", the free movement of goods, capital, services, and labour, but Gábor Vona reminded that the flow of hundreds of thousands of Hungarian youth is not a free movement. They are forced to do so because wages in Central Eastern European countries have completely broken away from the Western part of the continent.
Jobbik's prime minister candidate is aware that the issue of the wage union is complex, and that they are facing a very tough struggle, but the first step - which is also Western Europe's interest - has to be made.
"We have to start an honest dialogue about this problem, we have to find the solutions which can turn Europe into a solidarity-based and equal community"
, he stated.
"In order to eliminate wage differences, we need more competitive Hungarian enterprises; in order to make Hungarian enterprises competitive, we need a new cohesion policy and in order to have a new cohesion policy we basically need a new European Union"
, he explained.
This shows another big contrast between Fidesz and Jobbik, he said: while they are "sending messages to Brussels" on billboards, Jobbik wants to take part in the constructive, meaningful debates about the European Union's future.
"Instead of Viktor Orbán's manipulative freedom fights we want to have meaningful, constructive and open debates in which we promote the interest of our homeland, but we feel that we also represent the interest of a stronger Europe"
, he explained the philosophy of Jobbik's foreign policy.