Edith Lauer : Historic Day in Budapest
MBK member Edit Lauer was present in the Hungarian parliament during the election of the President of Hungary and sends the following report regarding the tactics that help win the the presidency for Dr. László Sólyom.
Dear Coalition Board Members:
This is your special "insider" report from Budapest regarding the historic presidential election that took place yesterday at the Hungarian Parliament.
First a bit of background: The Hungarian President is elected by the members of Parliament for a five year term. The first democratically elected President was Arpad Goncz, who served two terms; then came Ferenc Madl, who said from the beginning he would only serve one term. The two nominees for election in 2005 were Dr. Katalin Szili, President of Parliament, candidate of the Hungarian Socialist Party, (MSZP), and Dr. Laszlo Solyom, a constitutional legal expert, candidate of several NGO's, Fidesz and the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF).
The election of the President requires the winner to reach a two/thirds majority in the first or second round (or 258 of the total of 368 votes), or a simple majority in the third round. Because the two largest parties have the most votes - MSZP has 178 and Fidesz has 169 - the probability of either candidate reaching a two thirds majority was quite slim. The Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ) has 20 votes, the MDF has 8 votes, and the Independents have 11 votes.
Dr Szili had the total support of MSZP; while SZDSZ members objected to Dr. Szili's role as an active politician, and chose not to vote for either candidate; MDF members generally backed Dr. Solyom, as did the Independents.
The first round of elections resulted in 183 votes for Dr. Szili and only 13 votes for Dr. Solyom. The latter represented a surprising tactical step from Fidesz, who chose to withhold their votes in order to be able to determine from the number of votes cast for Dr. Szili, how the other smaller parties would vote. The second round of election ended with 185 votes for Dr. Solyom and 178 for Dr. Szili.
I had the good fortune to be present in the Parliament when the third and final round of the election took place. The excitement was palpable in the corridors as votes were cast from 2-2:40 p.m. Small groups of Parliamentarians were seen hurriedly talking to each other, and among literally dozens of press people, they made their way in and out of the Parliament Hall. I talked with several members, and clearly everyone felt the election would be very close, and each vote was extremely important to win. Party discipline was stressed by all, and as SZDSZ continued to state it would not vote, it was not hard to figure out that Fidesz and MDF needed to prevent any "crossover" votes to tip the balance to Dr. Szili.
At 3 p.m. our friend, Janos Horvath was speaking about something completely unrelated to the election. No one was paying attention: SMS's were being sent; mobil telephones were constantly ringing, and party leaders, such as Mr. Orban, Mr. Kuncze, Ms. Lendvai and others were talking it up in their "camp." I was sitting in the second floor gallery next to a group that was obviously not supporting Dr. Solyom. At 3:15 p.m. my neighbor's phone rang, he got very solemn, and said, "Well, that's it then," put down his phone, and whispered to his colleagues: "It's Solyom by 3." And that's how I first found out who the next Hungarian President would be!
At 3:20 p.m. Mr. Mandur made the actual announcement: The election was declared legal with a total of 386 ballots taken, 14 of which were returned; Thus 368 actual votes were cast, with 367 valid and one invalid vote. Dr. Laszlo Solyom received 185 votes and Dr. Katalin Szili received 182 votes. After a few seconds of silence, Dr. Solyom's supporters cheered enthusiastically, while most members of MSZP sat quietly, as did SZDSZ members. Dr. Madl and Dr. Szili got up to congratulate Dr. Solyom who was seated way in the back of the Parliament, as did Mr. Gyurcsany, the Prime Minister. A small group of members stood up and quietly started singing the Hungarian National Anthem, which everyone eventually joined. The trumpets sounded; the official color guard slowly marched into the hall; and Dr. Solyom proceeded to take his oath as President. (His term will begin on August 4th).
In his short remarks Dr. Madl congratulated the new President, and pointed out how difficult it is to recognize and protect the interests and rights of the whole Hungarian nation, inside and outside the borders of Hungary. Then, Dr. Solyom made his first speech as President-Elect. He said: "Perhaps never before has it been so important and timely to remind ourselves that according to our constituion the President of the Republic is himself the institution of unity." He stressed the need for the President to be above political parties, for uniting the sharply divided Hungarian society. He pledged he would be a strong, but non-activist President, who values and respects diversity, the rights of individuals and institutions.
At the reception that followed I saw many friends of the Coalition: Ambassador Walker, Klara Breuer, Jozsef Kasza, Miklos Kovacs,Gyorgy Tomka, many members of Parliament, Vilmos Szabo and others. I even had the opportunity to congratulate Dr. Solyom, wishing him strength, wisdom, and God's blessings in his important work from members of the Hungarian American Coalition.
On my way out of Parliament I paused next to Szent Istvan's Crown. Its deep gold patina spoke of survival, of continuity, of hope for the future.
Edith Lauer
Budapest
June 8, 2005