Breaking Down Barriers

There was another bout of political poo-pooing on Friday and over the weekend. Since the riots last September, Kossuth tér - the square where parliament is situated - has been closed to the public. There were protestors camped outside for a while but I think they all got moved on a couple of weeks ago. Some people would come to the barriers and mope around a bit and shout but it seemed to be dying down.

Whether the barriers are a good thing or not is hard to say. On the one hand, it would be good to keep an angry mob away from the nation's big house. On the other hand, the barriers also serve to remind people that there's a restriction of freedom in place.

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On Friday, the opposition party thought it would be a good idea to remove the barriers themselves. So complete with their leader they set about dismantling the cordon. Bemused and unsure, the police that were on watch, just watched. It all made for a good bit of media and so the cameras were out and the speeches were made. Later, there was a lot of huffing and puffing about whether the action was legal or illegal. Or better still, was it right or wrong?

Of course, with the increase in media interest, the protestors came back. With their flags and megaphones they were enthusiastic in exercising their freedom of speech.

All this is fine, but I can't help thinking that the leader of the opposition holding a meeting in front of the parliament and then (perhaps illegally) removing the barriers in front of an eager camera crew is not good for business. Surely you're going to keep or gain credibility with a good debate about why the current government is making a big mistake by keeping the railings up.

By going ahead and getting stuck in without debate, without warning, surely the message to the people believing in you is that the only option available is direct action and forget about the legalities.

People learn from example and this wasn't a good one.


* Images taken from VG.hu

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Postcards From Hungary

People were expecting a bit of tension around the 50th anniversary of 1956 uprising last year but I don't think anyone realised there would be full-blown riots. Last September a tape was "leaked" that had the prime minister admitting that he'd lied morning, noon and night about the state of the economy and that they'd done bugger all since getting into power to put the country back on track.

I won't go into the riots in this post. You can read all about it at the BBC, Wikipedia or even the "Riots in Hungary" site. They all have good coverage of it and the Riots in Hungary site has links to all the video clips and an interactive walkthrough of events.

While a lot of people vehemently opposed the prime minister and what he had done, they were equally disgusted by the riots and the idea of Hungarians fighting each other in the streets.

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A new installation at Erzsebet ter in the 5th district shows the results of a campaign by the government to get people's take on situation. The "Szeretem Magyarorszagot Klub" (careful, the film and music is set to autoplay) asked people to send in postcards with their thoughts. These postcards were then digitized and printed onto outdoor covers. Each cover sheet holds a load of cards and then they've put these sheets all around the main walkway of the square.

Some cards display just the simple "Szeretem Magyarorszagot" phrase while others are slightly more political and refer to the riot police, the prime minister or the leader of the opposition (both for and against).

If you're walking around downtown then it's worth taking a peek. Even if you don't understand the Hungarian, you'll get the gist of things with the pictures that people have drawn and the sheer number of cards. If you're not in the center (or even in Hungary) then you can browse through the cards online.


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