Steven N.
Member of Parliament Ildikó Bangóné Borbély was expelled from the Hungarian Socialist Party over the weekend by her party’s presidency for claiming apparently untrue information about her academic achievements. Using information that she had provided, Parliament’s website showed that she had received an economics degree from the Budapest Business School in 2013, although it turned out that the university had no data on her ever being a student there.
Following Ildikó Bangóné Borbély’s expulsion from her party, Debreciner now writes that interest has picked up on social media regarding the educational attainments of Fidesz politician Lajos Kósa (pictured).
From 1990-1998, over two parliamentary cycles, Kósa represented himself on the website for Parliament as a university graduate, and also claimed intermediate level ability in two languages, while he actually had not passed any language exams. He still hasn’t. Nor does he have a degree.
After it was revealed that Lajos Kósa did not actually have a university degree or had passed any language exams, he simply changed the public data that appears on Parliament’s website.
Kósa faced no political consequences for untruthfully representing himself for two terms in Parliament. After the information came out, Lajos Kósa became chair of the parliamentary Auditing Committee, then of the Defense and Law Enforcement Committee, leader of the Fidesz parliamentary caucus, mayor of Debrecen, minister without portfolio, took numerous high-level positions in Fidesz, and headed several organizations.
[Debreciner][In-story photos: debreciner.hu, from parlament.hu]
