Steven N.
As of Monday morning, Hungary’s political opposition has managed to collect around 20,000 signatures for its petition drive on the twin issues of the future of Fudan University in Budapest and extending the period of unemployment benefits, reports HVG. However, the exact number of signatures has not yet been confirmed.
Collecting signatures for the petitions began last Thursday and is ongoing. If the opposition manages to get 200,000 signatures by mid-January, it will be able to offer a referendum on the two questions to take place at the same time as the Parliamentary elections in April.
The news site reports that some constituencies ran out of signature sheets on Saturday or Sunday, meaning that they were able to get more than 3,000 petition signatures in these places in the first few days.
The opposition parties have put Péter Zaránd in charge of the campaign to collect signatures for the petition drive. Zaránd, also the campaign manager for prime ministerial candidate Péter Márki-Zay, said that the petition drive is going better than expected, and not just in Budapest but nationwide.
Meanwhile, the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party (MKKP), although not a part of the six-party united opposition, is assisting with the petition drive at its “NO FUDAN” stalls (pictured). However, the party complained on Facebook that it had only received 680 signature sheets, which they claimed was not enough and as a result were unable to start collecting signatures in many places.
In response, independent MP Ákos Hadházy commented on the MKKP post by saying that he would provide the party with some of his own signature sheets.
[Magyar Hang][Photo: Magyar Kétfarkú Kutya Párt / Facebook]
