At the event, which was held at the Museum of Fine Arts, the Prime Minister said: “There are us, who have reduced utility prices and want to keep them low, and there are those who say that this is irrational, and that the market must be left to regulate; that people should instead consume less, and they quote the liberal textbooks”.
“The result of this, if it becomes political practice or a government activity, will be that the cost of living will increase”, Mr. Orbán pointed out.
The Prime Minister also spoke about the fact that in light of the past three elections the Perspective Institute usually does a good job of assessing the expected final result. “For an election success of such large proportions to come about first requires there to be analysis. Following analysis, planning is needed, and after planning one needs to work, that’s when the ‘graft’ begins, and at the end the result is announced”, he added. “A major election victory, and to an even greater extent in the case of back-to-back election victories, requires the performance of a lot of work. Victory isn’t blown through the door by the wind, one does not have a two-thirds majority by accident, and especially not twice or three times in a row”, he stated.
The Prime Minister called the period following the 2006 Őszöd speech an age of deceit. “In those years, the whole county was misled in a deliberate and coordinated manner, and they were only able to win the election by keeping secret and falsifying the budget figures to prevent the people, the electorate, from finding out the true situation”, he emphasised.
Mr. Orbán quoted George Orwell, who said that “in a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act”. “If one thinks about the founding of Nézőpont Institute, then one may safely classify it as a revolutionary organisation, because it came about as an institution that dared to state that two and two make four even when everybody else was voicing the opposite”, he said.
“We cannot be grateful enough to the Perspective Institute for helping to do away with the age of deceit”, Viktor Orbán emphasised.
“As a profession, in 2006 political analysis was in a highly primitive state in Hungary, and it was from this state of affairs that we have now reached the stage where analytical and research work if being performed that may be regarded as well-constructed even by Western European standards”, he explained.
“If there exists a profession that requires distancing and an objective viewpoint that is free of personal bias, and that informs us about in what direction decisions are moving the country’s waggon, not in themselves, but overall, then that is most certainly the profession of politicians”, he stated. “A background is needed, and such is the Nézőpont Institute, the mission of which is to view this work without distortion, in line with reality, and using the instruments of science”, he explained.
“The Nézőpont Institute was perhaps the first Hungarian institute of its kind to come about consciously and in a well thought out manner in Hungary based on the Western think-tank model”, he noted.
“15 years have passed since the foundation of Nézőpont Institute. And we have been in government for 12 of those years”, the Prime Minister pointed out. “The Nézőpont Institute has helped us to get to know people’s opinions, in addition to which there is also a need for the development of ministerial-level political proposals, for which we also respectfully express our thanks”, he said, adding: “I am also grateful for the third thing, for the expert analysis of media conditions”.
The Prime Minister said that in his opinion it is not just useful if such institutes exist in the country, but in the case of a free country it is also unavoidable. „There is no national sovereignty if there are no nationally-run analytical research companies that prepare political decisions”, he declared. “It is important for there to be institutions that describe with Hungarian eyes and starting out from Hungarian interests how the world looks from the perspective of Hungarian interests”, he added.
“If we want a free and sovereign Hungary, then we have an undying need for viewpoints and perspectives, and for Hungarian research and analytical institutes”, Viktor Orbán emphasised.
Mr. Orbán also spoke about the fact that there will be elections next year, and that Hungary is a free and democratic country in which it will be the electorate that decides “which way we should go and whose program we should realise, and with whom”.
“Having such a large lead prior to an election is the most dangerous thing that can happen”, he highlighted. “We must face the intellectual challenge that 5-6 months prior to the elections the civil Christian democratic government is leading by a tangible advantage from the perspective of voter confidence”, he stated.
“Although many things can change within a short time, we must nevertheless calculate in the rational manner according to which our political community is entering the elections as the clear favourite”, he said. “For the moment, it is evident from the current analyses that it is sufficient to perform our work well and diligently over the next 5-6 months, without presenting special feats and focussing on people’s livelihoods, while working many-many hours-a-day”, he said in assessment.
“At the Olympics, second place is a performance that deserves praise, and is rewarded with a silver medal. But in politics there is no second place and there are no silver medals; there are only two things: victory and defeat”, Mr. Orbán pointed out.
