Opposition Parties Found to Have Received Illegal Campaign Financing, Audit Office Discovers
Opposition Alliance Involved in Illegal Campaign Financing, Says State Audit Office
The State Audit Office (ASZ) has announced that several parties within the opposition alliance ahead of the 2022 parliamentary elections have been found to be involved in illegal campaign financing. According to ASZ head Laszlo Windisch, the parties received over 261 million forints (EUR 671,200) illegally from abroad through the Hungary Belongs to Everybody (MMM) movement.
ASZ has ruled that the beneficiaries of the illegal funding, including Democratic Coalition, Jobbik, Momentum, the Socialist Party, and LMP, should collectively repay the entire sum to the central budget within 15 days. This comes as a result of the investigation conducted by ASZ, as accepting donations from abroad is illegal under Hungarian law.
Furthermore, the national tax and customs authority NAV is currently investigating MMM in connection with a further 1.4 billion forints to determine if it was also used for campaign financing.
Windisch highlighted that the opposition’s joint candidate for prime minister, Péter Marki-Zay, had admitted that MMM had set up an account to finance the operations of the opposition’s central campaign. ASZ reached out to MMM seeking clarification on its role in supporting the campaign, concluding that this constituted illegal campaign financing.
The investigation found that MMM and the opposition parties had established a campaign council to coordinate their campaigns, using foreign funds to finance billboards, leaflets, and other campaign materials, as well as joint events. The parties accepted this support, which goes against regulations on illegal party financing.
It is important to note that the parties cannot appeal ASZ’s report, although the opposition parties have protested the findings, suspecting political motives.
Momentum leader Anna Donáth stated that ASZ’s reasons for the fine were “ridiculous” and accused the office of using show proceedings to stymie their opponents. Similarly, Jobbik – Conservatives attributed the fine to the government’s act of revenge for recent scandals, with the aim of stymying their rivals in the upcoming elections. The Socialist Party also rejected ASZ’s findings, stating that they would take legal action and claiming political motivations behind the decision. The Democratic Coalition announced that they would take all possible legal steps in connection with the fine and sue the state treasury if ASZ’s decision is carried out.
The opposition parties are adamant in their rejection of the findings and have vowed to take legal action to address the situation. The ongoing disputes between ASZ and the opposition alliance are likely to continue as the parties seek to address the accusations of illegal campaign financing.
Source: MTI
