Local Elections – Hungary not strong, if 4 million live in poverty, says Socialist leader

(MTI) – There are no strong municipalities, and there is no strong Hungary, if there are four million poor people in the country, the leader of the opposition Socialists said on the campaign trail on Saturday.

“This group has been left without representation and partnership and without a safety belt,” Jozsef Tobias told a public forum in Papa in western Hungary.

There are 620,000 children living in Hungary in mouldy and damp homes, 170,000 lack access to proper baths and another 300,000 do not get proper meals, Tobias said, making reference to an international study released about Hungarian society on Friday.

He said it is the responsibility of municipalities to manage social tension generated by the current government’s decisions.

Ildiko Borbely Bango, a lawmaker for the Socialists, told a press conference on Saturday that the party demands from the Central Statistical Office the release of figures on poverty in Hungary to the public.

Until know, KSH as a routine has released related figures it reported under EU methodology by September 20. But this year the office said it could only publish these data in November, citing a budget shortage, said Bango.