HUNGARY'S ELECTIONS: ENERGETIC CAMPAIGN, CLEAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BUDAPEST 000780

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE PASS EUR/NCE MICHELLE LABONTE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KDEM PGOV SOCI HU
SUBJECT: HUNGARY'S ELECTIONS: ENERGETIC CAMPAIGN, CLEAN
VOTE (C-RE6-00145)

REF: A. SECSTATE 22644

B. 05 BUDAPEST 1880

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Summary
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1. (U) Since 1990, international observers have deemed all of
Hungary's elections free and fair. There is no basis for
believing that outcome of the first round was affected by the
alleged irregularities that have been reported in the course
of the campaign. On April 10, one day after the first round,
National Election Commission chair Emilia Rytko informed the
press that there had been no evidence of foul play. Between
the state-owned and opposition-friendly media outlets, all
parties had opportunity take their message to the public. In
the course of this spirited campaign, there have been reports
of minor abuses and excesses. Campaign-financing regulations
remain weak (reftel B),a situation that the major parties
are unprepared to remedy. This cable attempts to
characterize the overall campaign and place reported abuses
in context.

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The Campaign: Spirited, with Minor Incidents
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2. (SBU) Hungary's 2006 election campaign was generally a
civil affair, with parties and candidates having broad access
to the media, and the voters having ample opportunity to see
the parties' true colors. The process was unmarred by
political violence. The one-day "campaign silence" prior to
the vote was respected. Such incidents and allegations as
appeared were isolated and did not influence the outcome of
any race, let alone the national contest. Post notes here
that cries of "foul" were generally more characteristic of
the opposition than the ruling coalition party machines.
Such allegations as there were can be broadly categorized as
follows:

-- Data protection/privacy concerns: The most prominent
reported incident in this campaign has been the hacking of
the MSZP party website from server.fidesz.hu on February 3.
In an official statement, FIDESZ claimed that it had obtained
the website password from a publicly-accessible online
posting. The police opened an investigation into the case.
Secondly, MSZP's local organization in Gyula complained of a
local city council employee who allegedly sent a list of
names, addresses, e-mail addresses and party preferences of
local residents to the campaign manager of the local FIDESZ
candidate; FIDESZ spokesperson Peter Szijjarto denied any
connection between the employee and the party's candidate.
The National Election Commission examined the Gyula case as
an instance of the possible abuse of voters' personal data.
FIDESZ spokesperson Szijjarto reported that a briefcase
containing MSZP campaign literature and personal data on
residents of Pomaz was found on a commuter train; a related
news report claimed that the findings consisted merely of
"one election leaflet, three or four pieces of paper and
business cards." Police in Budapest's first district opened
an investigation into the matter. In the course of the
campaign, Thirdly, MSZP also charged that FIDESZ possesses
personal information on all the country's voters. FIDESZ,
after initially denying that it held such information, later
admitted that it indeed had lists of supporters but that it
had compiled the lists during grass-roots campaigns of the
last two years such as the National Consultation and the
National Petition drives. Party spokesman Szijjarto has
admitted to FIDESZ buying a list of first-time voters, but he
stated that the party had subsequently destroyed the list.
(Note: In April, FIDESZ communications director Tamas
Deutsch-Fur ackowledged that the party is directing activists
to deliver "personal" letters from Orban to 400,000
first-time voters. Data Protection Ombudsman Attila
Peterfalvi also warned the parties to respect the sanctity of
personal data stored by local government offices.

-- Scuffles: There were some reports of scuffles involving
campaign workers collecting nomination slips. (Note: Each
voter may submit one nomination slip in support of entering a
candidate on the local ballot. Any citizen found to submit
more than one such slip thereby invalidates all of them.
Centrum Party chair Mihaly Kupa has accused both major
parties of shutting out smaller ones by their allegedly
aggressive tactics.) One incident that drew comment from
Parliament Speaker Katalin Szili (MSZP) and SZDSZ party
president Gabor Kuncze involved an attack by a 45-year-old
man on an elderly woman while either collecting FIDESZ
nomination forms or distributing FIDESZ leaflets in Pecs.

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(The man later denied that he had assaulted the woman because
of her political views.) According to press reports, a
Centrum Party candidate was assaulted in his home by
burglars. In Budapest's eleventh district, a 43-year-old
security guard used a gas pistol to fire on an SZDSZ activist
collecting nomination slips. (The assailant stated that he
was bothered by those collecting nomination forms.) to some
calls to abandon the practice of sending party activists door
to door to collect nomination slips.

-- Death Threats: While there have also some death threats
in the campaign, there have been no reported attempts to
injure a candidate or prominent campaign figure. In March, a
17-year-old boy was apprehended after e-mailing a death
threat to PM Gyurcsany; he was released after interrogation.
Between rounds one and two, Interior Minister Monika Lamperth
(MSZP) offered to provide a security detail to MDF party
president Ibolya David after the latter received "several"
death threats. FIDESZ spokesman Peter Szijjarto has claimed
that he received an obscene death threat in letter form.

-- Petty Vandalism: On March 15, the MSZP office in Vasvar
was broken into, with some 500 nomination slips removed and
some posters stolen. In Budapest's twelfth district, the
FIDESZ office reported that a vandal had smeared red paint on
the outside of the office, as well as on a nearby memorial.
Also in March, a man armed with a hunting knife, professing
right-wing views and encouragement from his father, broke
into a Nyugatszenterzsebet property under construction and
belonging to Pecs's Socialist mayor Laszlo Toller; Toller
declined to press charges. In April, police caught the
nephew of FIDESZ's Budapest faction head and the son of the
tax office director defacing MSZP posters.

-- Pressure Tactics, Blackmail: MDF has been particularly
sharp in its accusations of FIDESZ's attempts to pressure the
smaller party's candidates out of the race. In March, FIDESZ
party president Viktor Orban promptly withdrew party support
for candidate Zoltan Bago after the Bago's MDF rival
publicized an incriminating tape recording. In that
recording, the FIDESZ candidate threatened his MDF opponent
with untoward career consequences if the latter did not
withdraw from the race. MDF caucus leader Karoly Herenyi
charged that Bago was carrrying out his party's instructions,
which FIDESZ spokesperson Peter Szijjarto denied. (Note:
Hungary's two-round election system encourages horse-trading
between the parties for one candidate to throw support to
another.)

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Media Access: Ample and Diverse
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3. (U) Both before and after the first round, all political
parties enjoyed free access to the media to express their
views and to address their prospective voters. Even the
statistically insignificant, very small far-right alliance of
MIEP and Jobbik were covered by both the print and electronic
media. Individual media outlets gave more (sometimes
exclusive) opportunities to the parties and politicians they
sympathized with, but on the whole, between the pro-coalition
and opposition-friendly outlets, all parties were provided
ample opportunity to take their message to the public. There
is no evidence to support the mainly far-right opposition
complaints that the media was controlled by
"leftist-liberals" or that parties were deprived of the
chance to air their views.


4. (U) For the moment, it is too early to predict how savage
the campaign might become in the critical ten days remaining
before the next round of the elections. Based on our
first-round observations, however, we have every reason to
believe that freedom of the press will continue to be
respected, and that all involved in the campaign will
continue to have a fair chance to influence prospective
voters with their unrestrained and uncensored appearances in
the print and electronic media.

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A Clean Vote
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5. (U) Wearing observer badges issued by the National
Election Commission, eight teams of Embassy personnel visited
more than one hundred polling stations in all regions of
Hungary on April 9. No polling station reporting long lines
or wait times. All observers reported that election
officials were "friendly and forthcoming." Most polling
stations were staffed with six to twelve paid election

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officials and volunteer workers. Volunteers were from the
four parliamentary parties, and appeared to work well
together.


6. (U) Despite charges that some polling stations might see
attempts to buy votes or manipulate the balloting, there have
been no such reports. One alienated MSZP local politician
also claimed that the party plans to revive a practice
allegedly employed in the 2002 elections, in which colluding
voters would bring their blank ballots outside the voting
center to a waiting party activist, who would then pay them
for their cooperation, complete the ballot and send it inside
with the next participant in the scheme. That voter would
collect a blank ballot, submit the completed one, and spirit
the blank one outside to the party activist, and so on in a
chain. In April, the National Election Commission issued a
statement condemning the practice. Before the first round,
Roma Affairs State Secretary Laszlo Teleki had told Poloffs
that he fully expected there to be incidents of buying Roma
votes in the April elections.


7. (U) In this year's contest, absentee balloting was made
possible at Hungarian embassies abroad, bringing in some
8,100 votes. FIDESZ was the only party that sent observers
to foreign missions to observe the vote; no irregularities
were reported. Under an Interior Ministry decree, voters who
will not be in their home district for round two of the
elections may arrange to vote in another district instead.
FIDESZ's Hajdu-Bihar county chair has alleged that MSZP plans
to bus large numbers of supporters from Budapest to
Debrecen's fourth district to support the party's local
candidate. (Note: According to press reports from one day
before the registration deadline, a total of 417 Budapest
voters had arranged to vote in Debrecen.) (Comment: That
charge appears overblown, given the chairman's claim that
MSZP would be sending 60 busfuls of supporters to Debrecen.)

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Comment
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8. (U) While the campaign was energetic, and there were some
substantiated reports of concern, such as the alleged server
hacking and attempted blackmail, none had any serious impact
on the final outcome. Where appropriate, police opened
investigations, and there is no indication that they pursued
them or publicized them to partisan advantage.
Campaign-finance limits are unrealistically low, and at least
three of the four parliamentary parties exceeded allowable
levels. Yet most importantly, all parties had ample
opportunity to air their views before the electorate, and the
electorate has been unimpeded in expressing its preference.
We can commend Hungary's election commission for a
professional job.


9. (U) Visit U.S. Embassy Budapest's classified website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/budapest/index.cfm

WALKER