Direkt36 detonated the bomb on April 6, and government documents obtained by them revealed that the Chinese company, largely from Chinese raw materials, mostly from Chinese credit would be built The campus of the Shanghai elite university, Fudan, in Budapest. The HUF 540 billion project is one of the largest investments in Hungarian higher education in recent decades. On the opposition side, all its elements have been criticized, and framed as a choice of values between the West and the East. they tried the case.
One of the most cardinal points is the Student City. Balázs Fürjes, State Secretary for the Development of the Prime Minister’s Office in Budapest and the Budapest Agglomeration, is listed on the Index opinion noted that
the Student City will be built according to the original plans and will provide eight to ten thousand dormitory places for students of Hungarian universities in Budapest. The Budapest campus of Fudan University, considered to be the 34th best university in the world, will not be built instead of the Student City.
Minister of Innovation and Technology László Palkovics also confirmed to our paper in his interviewthat “the institution doesn’t take anything” from the Student City.
In comparison, in May, Krisztina Baranyi, the mayor of Ferencváros, published on her Facebook page a draft law on the investment submitted by László Palkovics. map extract. Based on this, the Student City and Fudan will practically change places, forcing the dormitories into smaller areas.
A new element in government communication
Already in early June in Budapest protested Gergely Karácsony, among others, gave a speech against Fudan for the Student City. Chancellor Gergely Gulyás then said in an interview to support the referendum. The cabinet’s set of arguments was supplemented by the fact that the plans are not yet in a form suitable for public debate.
In this connection, Gábor Horn, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Republikon Foundation, asks the question that:
if it is not yet ready for debate, why did it come before parliament? It is also interesting that a decision can be made only after the detailed plans have been completed, while the preparation can already cost a lot of money.
How did it become such a matter?
Viktor Orbán spoke at the Government Info that it was university foundation higher education is a professional issue, but the left has made it a policy.
Mráz Ágoston Sámuel, head of the Perspective Institute, told Index
Gergely Karácsony built a campaign for this, because the pre-election campaign did not live up to expectations.
According to the analyst, it is a classic diversionary operation, the mayor saw the Fudan issue as suitable to push the language skills solo discourse.
Gábor Horn told our newspaper that
the government and its environment accounted for themselves. They might have thought that Fudan fits into the framework of Eastern relationship building and is a business thing that is difficult for people to understand. However, the opposition realized that this could also be interpreted as a choice of values.
The opposition noticed the opportunity and we saw one of the rare occasions when they were able to thematize. They managed to make the case outgrow the university and be a relevant issue even for those living outside the capital because of the thousands of places in the Student City and dormitories.
Did they win a battle?
According to Gábor Horn, it can be declared that this battle was won by the opposition, and it can even build on it. This is also suggested by the fact that Fidesz has returned at least at the level of communication.
Mráz Ágoston Sámuel does not rank the government among the three favorite topics Fudant, but with a time lag and the promise of a democratic decision, they can neutralize Gergelyék ‘s strategy.
How much is left in it?
The opposition has always had a big problem getting caught up in topics, but eventually left them because they didn’t recognize the usefulness of what Gábor Kuncze called a parrot commando: if I repeated something to boredom, maybe others had already heard it
– says Gábor Horn, who said that the opposition should keep Fudan on the agenda like a bulldog, together with its ideological, financial and democratic decision-making aspects. This is well communicable, but it is difficult for the opposition, as in all similar cases, that for the most part they do not have the necessary surfaces to do so.
Mrs. Ágoston Sámuel does not see any more on the topic at the information level at the moment, but there will be an attempt and an intention in Gergely Karácsony and the opposition.
They have no other choice, because they cannot attack the government with relatively successful epidemic management, for example, but Fidesz can neutralize opposition communication with a time lag and a referendum. In the summer, political life is more restrained anyway, and in September a fierce struggle begins, probably on other topics.
Gábor Horn also predicts that in the event of a clear Fidesz victory in 2022, implementation may be on the agenda, but not in the construction we know today. Until then, Fidesz has no choice but to try to freeze the campus issue.
Gergely Karácsony on the outcome of the consultation launched in the case after more than thirty thousand votes statedthat there is no substantial support for the investment in Budapest and a national referendum is being initiated. Mayor Krisztina Baranyi from Ferencváros spoke about the fact that the referendum can be held at the local level already in the autumn.
For the time being, the cabinet has only blew a communication retreat, with 133 yes and 25 no, no abstentions on the last day of the spring parliamentary session. adopted the law on the transfer of assets intended for the Fudan Hungary University Foundation.
(Cover image: Button binder Emma / Index)
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