Lockdown orgy: Fidesz politician resigns
The scandal over an orgy in Brussels that flouted the coronavirus regulations continues to make waves. According to media reports, police found at least 20 persons, mostly men, at the party, most of them naked. One of the guests was the Hungarian MEP and co-founder of the conservative Fidesz party József Szájer, who also reportedly had drugs in his possession.
The whole government should fall
With József Szájer it wasn't just any old politician who discredited the constitutional order, Azonnali stresses:
“In the Szájer case, all the elements that should lead to the fall of a government are present. However, Hungary lacks the fundamental characteristics of a democratic culture needed for such a fall. ... You'd think this were just a story in the tabloids, with no bearing on the fact that the constitutional architecture of the regime is being discredited by a person who, as the father of the constitution passed by Fidesz, was a key figure in its making.”
Is the party really over?
The repercussions of the scandal could extend far beyond Szájer and Fidesz, Magyar Hang writes, at the same time urging caution:
“The person who organised the party has said that many nations are represented at similar parties, including politicians from the Hungarian and Polish right-wing parties. ... His statements should be regarded with a certain scepticism, because apparently it refers to someone for whom an arrest warrant has been issued in Poland, and whose background is unclear. More importantly, so far there is no evidence to back up his statements. It is not yet clear whether this scandal which is so damaging to Fidesz's image will trigger a domino effect.”
Goodbye credibility
The Fidesz politician's double standards could hardly have been exposed more vividly, comments the editor-in-chief of the Bulgarian service of Deutsche Welle, Alexander Andreev:
“If there were only one word that could describe the former Hungarian MEP József Szájer, his mentor Viktor Orbán, and a whole slew of other populists, it would be hypocrisy. ... When politicians work in the interest of their constituents and for the common good, I couldn't care less about their private life. But if they preach water and drink wine, as the saying goes, they lose all credibility. And a politician without credibility is like a naked man clinging to a drainpipe with bloody hands in Brussels: helpless, sad and failed.”
Now Fidesz has no more hobby horses
This is the best thing that could have happened to Hungary, Népszava writes:
“There are few developments that could be more useful for equality, democracy and society than the case of József Szájer. ... This is the end of a nightmare: Fidesz cannot spend the next year and a half denouncing gays and inciting hatred against sexual minorities. ... Having lost this hobby horse, the Fidesz party and Viktor Orbán are now forced to come out. They must show their colours and demonstrate whether they can offer the country anything more meaningful than hatred and bogeymen.”
Cynicism is also well camouflaged in Warsaw
Philologist and journalist Paulina Siegień hopes in Krytyka Polityczna that the story will also open people's eyes in Poland:
“The József Szájer affair serves stereotypes to such an extent that it is hard to believe. A right-wing, homophobic, married man who claims to defend Christian values turns out to be a lover of gay orgies. I wonder if this hypocrisy will eventually affect the elections on a large scale. Not only in Hungary, but also in Poland. Because the cynicism sold under the guise of values, which only aims to maintain power, influence and money at any cost, is also the basic content of politics in Warsaw.”
Voters are right to be angry
Website Pesti Srácok can fully understand why Fidesz supporters are disappointed in József Szájer:
“In the past 30 years the whole country has come to see him as a reliable, clever and calm person who is highly competent in his work. Up to now, he had given his opponents hardly anything to aim at - but now he has suddenly exposed himself to such an extent that it means the end of his political career. With his departure, Fidesz loses one of its mainstays. It's understandable that many nationalist voters are disappointed and angry.”
PR debacle for the Hungarian government
This is an embarrassing blow to the Fidesz government, De Standaard notes:
“The gap between Szajer's private conduct and his party's ideological line is too great. Since the days when Orbán and Szajer founded Fidesz as an anti-communist student club, the party has moved significantly to the right. This course also includes new restrictions on LGBT rights. ... Last week, Budapest and the Polish government opposed an EU foreign policy plan for gender equality. ... The fact that an absolute heavyweight is now revealing the hypocrisy of the party line is a potential PR nightmare for Fidesz.”
Hypocrisy is the problem
It's not the MEP's sex life that is the scandal here, Telex notes:
“No one should be condemned in any sense, either morally or legally, because of their sexual preferences, at least as long as no punishable acts are involved. ... And just because someone is a public figure, their rampant sex life should not be judged more strictly. ... But it's a different matter when that person represents a political ideology that is suffused with purported Christianity and conservatism. ... What is truly scandalous about this scandal is the hypocrisy and duplicity.”