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Oszkár Világi: Political parties are not almighty and all-wise

22.6.2013 - Új Szó - Column: Saturday guest | Page: 9 | Topic: Slovnaft

Local communities can keep political parties from speaking up for unacceptable things with their distinct statement.

Last January he said he could express his opinion in more details on social questions, but he did not want to do that before the elections. Now here is the moment.

We have interviewed CEO of Slovnaft, Mr. Oszkár Világi, a well-known character of the Hungarians of Slovakia.

MOLNÁR NORBERT
MÓZES SZABOLCS


For whom did you vote last year’s elections?

(long thinking)

But it was not so long ago…

This is a very cynical beginning, I mean the interjection. I think these kinds of things are private. Otherwise I picked „Most-Híd“ (Bridge). There was a great debate on it back home in my family on even going to vote at all: my wife did not even intend to vote. Her opinion was, a government that is so much unable to keep its power, does not deserve our vote. On the other side, in the times of such a strong assimilation it is a large luxury to vote a party like Most-Híd, in which so many people can be found with double identity. When we are getting fewer and fewer so fast, we cannot make compromises. I had to admit she is right in many things. And I did not go to vote because I was convinced about being able to vote for one of the parties with clear conscience. I picked Most-Híd because there were three names on its list about whom I think as my friends. But I did not feel identification like at the previous elections, when I voted along the stable values.

That means you chose because you had to.

No. Deciding not to go voting seemed to me a bigger opportunism than voting a party with which I cannot totally identify.

Has election been more simple until there was only one party?

Yes. That only one Hungarian party mediated much clearer political message, even if it has been tensified with conflicts from within.

Would it be better for the two parties to get back together again?

It is said, something once torn is not easy to rebind. I do not believe in that. When it was about the three parties to unite, sceptics were afraid like this, that it will not work. On the other hand it depends on the image of the two parties. If they are similar, it is easier to bring them together. Of course there are positive consequences of having two existing parties. If for example I am trying to evaluate the local relations at Dunajska Streda, finally there is an inner opposition in the local government. Now there is almost a balanced situation. Looking at the results of the last two national elections, there is a big problem that 100.000 Hungarian votes are down the drain. If the two parties decide to make a coalition agreement, which I wanted very much – there would be another power relations prevailing in the Parliament. For example, Smer would not have such a big majority.

Have you worked on creating a coalition?

I told everyone about whom I thought to have any effect on the events that it would be great to have it. As far as I am concerned, according to my abilities and opportunities, I did my best for the coalition. The fact that nothing came of it can be blamed on individual decisions. Personal feelings of being offended just have been grown bigger since then. We need not to seek deep philosophy behind decisions of politicians. Those who wanted a coalition should have to confront the majority in both parties when standing up for their conviction, and only a very few of them took on it.

Many from among the top politicians of the parties have argumented that people would not believe in the coalition after three years of brawling, and according to Most-Híd, coalition would not even have a synergic effect.

Yes, they told that not everyone would have gone for voting, but if there had been a common campaign, why would not they support the coalition? If the parties would have communicated properly, applying for 18 seats would have seemed such a realistic aim that most of voters could take side with. Simply, many of them were about to reach individual winning, and not for the winning of community.

You have mentioned that appearing of the rival did good at Dunajska Streda. Isn’t it useful for all Hungarians to have an opportunity to choose?

Locally it is. It can even work on county level. But on national level there is a big risk that none of the parties can get into the Parliament. Momentarily I cannot even see what visions and imaginations these two parties have about South Slovakia.

Did the integrated MKP have a self-image or a vision before 2009?

Yes, it did. It politicized along two principles: it strongly intended to be a regional party, but on the other hand, it wanted to play a significant role in national causes. This is a clearer formula than saying “I am a Hungarian party in Slovakia but I think that some of the Hungarian voters in Slovakia are not that much Hungarian that I could be able to cooperate with them”. This is quite a schizophrenic vision. Or: “We are a national party however I intend to get the most of my voters from regions inhabited by Hungarians”. Though we want Slovakians to believe that we represent their cases as well as those of nationalities. These foundations do not seem logical for me.

It is said to be that you got in contact with MKP before the elections in 2012 to offer your help. Is it true?

I have not got in contact with anyone to offer my help. This is a hearsay again. My only intention was helping the coalition made. I can see more potentials in both parties than they show about themselves now. I am being convictedly on the side of cooperation and consent. I repeat: next time we should not let 100.000 votes be down the drain. On the other hand, recently I have revised my opinion on parties. We have given political parties a role that is too big for them. We are expecting all solutions from them and that is a heavy weight lying on them. I rather believe in community actions and groups of interests that act for interests of each region or town. If a community draws up its own values, then it is difficult for a party to say that a factory of battery shall be built in the middle of Csallóköz, or let’s create a tyre incinerator in Párkány. Unluckily, sometimes even political parties support such plans. Local communities can keep political parties from speaking up for unacceptable things with their distinct statement.

Nevertheless, to industrialize South Slovakia it is necessary to have a motorway, what is out of the competence of the local communities.

I do not think that South Slovakia should get excessively industrialized. Values of South Western Slovakia are in agriculture and local tourism. Most of the population have always been living from growing vegetables and having backyard livestock: it was the solution and strategy for surviving in the periods of lack of money. I think we can slowly return to this! I do not believe that motorway is a solution for the problems of the region – it will just bring a lot of strangers as inhabitants to the region and weaken our identity. I find it far more important to talk about make a name, fashionably a brand for Csallóköz. It shall be a part where people come to eat well and have a rest.

In the recent years, could you see civil initiatives towards this direction?

A lot of! For example in Csallóköz, towns have joined about having bicycle routes built, they have applied, won, and this year another 40 km are going to be realized. I can mention a simpler example: village culture days. If all culture days of the villages in Csallóköz would be announced as Cultural Festival of Csallóköz, we would have the same number of programmes but with larger attraction. All these many initiatives should be joined together – but a political party is not really suitable for this. It has another role.

If it could happen like this, it would be almost the same if a party gets into the Parliament or not...

National political representation of interest is necessary. But: people like to win. Politics is a fight in which we can either win or lose. We must get strength in the inner belief that we are really able to reach certain political aims! On the other hand, political parties today are unable to accept and handle ambitions of small communities or individuals. Thus a lot of energy is wasted. I would like to underline that there is a need for political representation of interest, and parties are important institutes of parliamentary democracy. Bud they are not almighty and all-wise.

What is wrong with our community life?

The community has no self-consciousness. And because people do not believe in the strength of community, everybody tries to play their own games individually, in which they are too weak.

What could we do about politics?

For example, we should make a nominee run for president. It says a lot that we have not been able to run a nominee for president for 20 years. We dare not assume that we are able to do so.

Do you have ideas about the person?

If I told a name, I would ruin his chances in a minute.

Do you think defining a Hungarian of Slovakia is possible?

He is reticent. Though we can see a wider horizon of the world than the majority nations, because we grew up in the neighbourhood of two cultures: Hungarian and Slovakian. I believe, there can be a lot of advantages of the position „Hungarian of Slovakia“, however for some reason, the role of mediator just cannot work. For example, it is a big problem that Hungarian schools in Slovakia are not effective enough. But when somebody states that, he gets snubbed because nobody dares to talk about it openly. But we talk a lot about the right of self-determination. We are working on the education for years – most of our schools are supervised by local politicians of Hungarian parties. Does anything happen? Why don’t we have one or two elite schools? We care about our own things! – we say. We care about it, and are they ok? Handling this is for example a typical party task.

If we have no elite schools, shall we have an elite group? Does the Hungarians in Slovakia need a good DAC?

Hungarians in Slovakia have institutes that need to be kept and be developed. Such as our theatres. Or Forum Institute, that is a wonderful treasury of a great amount of information database. Somewhere here shall we mention Csemadok too, which has been recently ignored, because of its partisanship. Even DAC has become a kind of institute and symbol of Hungarians in Slovakia.

Could a trustworthy, new DAC help us in our self- definition?

Surely. Sports have a great importance in strengthening self-consciousness and identity. I find it important for the talented guys of South Slovakia to have a place to go forward, and have a team really on their own. Problem of today’s DAC is only wearing its name but having no identity with it.

DAC managed it into first class, are you happy about it?

It is not DAC managed that – that would not be celebrated by only 500 or 1000 people.

Do you still want to get the club from Mohsenis?

I am not thinking of that anymore. Who plays in Dunajska Streda is basically a question of licence. Today so many things are for sale in Slovakia – I do not think it is a problem.

Building up the club is a work. Could you have time for it beside Slovnaft?

Building a club is an enormous work. Maybe I haven’t got as much energy as many ideas and visions. It is truly possible. But we must not live thinking there are no solutions and visions. There are only problems everywhere without any solutions. We must strengthen our belief and intrepidity, and join for the common aim – and then solutions will come too.

Oszkár Világi (49)

has been the Director General of Slovnaft since 2006. In the past, he was active in the managerial and supervisory bodies of companies such as Slovenská poisťovňa, Železničná spoločnosť (Railroad Company), Apollo Chemical Health Insurance Company, and Orange. For several years, he worked in the Hungarian Coalition Party. Világi graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Comenius University in Bratislava, majoring in law.