The campaign for Budapest’s mayor position heats up as Fidesz backed mayor István Tarlós and leftist candidate Ferenc Falus continue to exchange aggressive statements. Tarlós claims that the left’s candidate put together an undefinable program, while Falus criticizes the government’s plans to move the PM’s office to the Buda Castle.
István Tarlós responded to the recently revealed program of Ferenc Falus by labeling it undefinable. The leftist candidate’s plans include speeding up the upgrade of the M3 metro line and attracting large-scale investments to Budapest by granting tax incentives. According to Tarlós, Budapest is not in a position to grant tax incentives because it does not levy taxes and the mayor has no power to influence central taxes.
In other news, Ferenc Falus stated, if he is to be elected, he would stop the planned relocation of the cabinet from its current offices to the Buda Castle. According to Falus, the relocation will not add to the national economy yet will cost hundreds of billions of forints, and instead of “luxury investment projects”, the government should rather earmark sufficient funds for the upgrade of Budapest’s third metro line. Ferenc also labeled the project “unreasonable and megalomaniac”.
In the recent weeks Hungary Today has published interviews with both candidates. István Tarlós interview can be found here, while Ferenc Falus interview is available here.
via HungaryMatters, photo budapest.hu