HUNGARY: Basic Income addressed by ruling and opposition parties
[Karl Widerquist]
A spokesperson for Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party called unconditional basic income (UBI) “dangerous brainstorming” in a recent press conference, according to Politics.HU. In response, the opposition Socialist party released a statement welcoming proposals of such as UBI. Although the Socialists stopped short of endorsing UBI, they indicated (quoting Politics.HU), “the government’s policies were ‘helping the rich, and increasing social gaps and poverty,’ in the light of which it was ‘no surprise’ that the ruling party rejected the idea.” Katalin Szili, head of the non-parliamentary Community for Social Justice party did endorse UBI.
The high level debate indicates the success of recent social activism for UBI in Europe. It has brought the issue into the political consciousness. The issue has gathered enough attention to inspire a survey by the Szazadveg Foundation. The survey found a large majority was skeptical about the idea.
For more on UBI in Hungary, see:
MTI, “Basic income for everyone ‘dangerous’ idea, says Fidesz spokesman”, Politics.HU, January 14, 2014
And
MTI, “Majority of Hungarians reject basic income guarantee”, Politics.HU, January 17, 2014
Politics.HU
