Opposition Socialists, LMP condemn government tactics on land-sale revenues

Budapest, September 26 (MTI) – The opposition Socialist and LMP parties have joined forces to protest against a government bill on how revenue from the sale of state farmland should be used. They argue that instead of ploughing the money into rural localities, as it had promised to do before, the government was now turning funds towards reducing the public debt.

At a joint news conference on Monday, Benedek R Sallai (LMP) and Zoltán Gőgös (Socialist) noted that the government had submitted two proposals to parliament on how the revenue should be spent.

A government law which required a two-thirds majority already specifies that the revenues can only be spent on rural projects and small and medium-sized farm holdings. At the same time, the government has said an amendment would be submitted to allow the revenues also to be spent on reducing the public debt. Gőgös also said the ruling Fidesz party wanted to decide the issue through a parliamentary decree when the Socialist Party had already initiated a referendum on the matter. The Socialists’ initiative of a national referendum on preventing the further sale of state-owned farmland was quashed in July by the National Election Office.