MINELREL-L Archive (04091999-19:52:31-11345)

RFE/RL: Romania's Hungarian party torn by inner conflict


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Subject: RFE/RL: Romania's Hungarian party torn by inner conflict


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Original sender: Panayote Elias Dimitras <[email protected]>

RFE/RL: Romania's Hungarian party torn by inner conflict


RFE/RL Newsline
 
7 April 1999
 
ROMANIA'S HUNGARIAN PARTY TORN BY INNER CONFLICT
 
By Michael Shafir
 
The Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) is scheduled to
hold its sixth congress in May 1999 and the event is likely to be
tumultuous. The UDMR's "radical" and "moderate" wings, which have long
been at odds, now appear to be headed for an open confrontation that
may impact not only UDMR's future, but also that of the Romanian
coalition in which the UDMR is a member, indeed may even have a
regional and international influence.

The "radical" wing of the alliance, headed by Reformed Bishop Laszlo
Toekes, has in the last months scored heavily against its adversaries,
whose leader is the UDMR chairman, Bela Marko. Internal UDMR elections
under way in preparation for the congress displaced "moderates" at the
head of several important UDMR local branches, replacing them with
partisans of the bishop. This was the case in Targu Mures, Cluj, and
Timisoara, three of the most important and powerful UDMR local
organizations. Moreover, the new leader of the Mures county UDMR local
organization, lawyer Eloed Kincses, has been elected by the Cluj and
Timisoara "radicals" to run against Marko for the UDMR chairmanship in
May.

There are several explanations for the UDMR's rank and file
radicalization. First, the minority Hungarian electorate, just like
that formed by the ethnic majority, is dissatisfied with the economic
performance of the ruling coalition. Marko has become associated with
the promotion of the coalition partnership, and with the promise to
deliver the "general goods" of reform and improved living standards as
a means to solve the problems of the Hungarian minority.

Second, and perhaps more important, is the perceived responsibility of
the "moderates" for the failure to deliver the "specific goods"
pursued by the UDMR when it joined the coalition in 1996. The former
cabinet headed by Victor Ciorbea, initially seemed inclined to meet
those demands. In an unwritten "gentlemen's agreement," the UDMR
leadership shelved its demands for autonomy in exchange for some
concrete steps aimed at meeting more modest demands. Two government
regulations issued by that cabinet allowed for the use of the minority
mother tongue in administration in localities with a significant
proportion of minority inhabitants, and amended the education law to
make possible university instruction in the minority mother tongue.
Government regulations, however, have to be eventually approved by the
parliament, and some of the UDMR's partners in the coalition joined
forces with the nationalist opposition to stall both pieces of
legislation. UDMR threats to leave the coalition eventually brought
about the compromise solution of setting up a so-called "multicultural
university," but even that solution is, for the time being, stalled,
as a court of justice (acting on appeals launched by three opposition
parties) ruled that it was "unconstitutional" and contradicted the
education law still in force.

The resignation of Gyorgy Tokay in January as minister in charge of
minorities affairs, though submitted on "personal grounds" that were
never elucidated, was another blow suffered by the "moderates," since
its most likely reason was the untenable position of an avowed
partisan of "dialogue" with the ethnic majority when that dialogue had
produced little after more than three years of coalition partnership.
His replacement, Cluj Senator Peter Eckstein Kovacs, is not easily
identifiable as either a "moderate" or a "radical," but, if the
current trend in the UDMR continues, is unlikely to pursue his
predecessor's line.

Recently, several UDMR members of the so-called "Platform for Change
of the UDMR" were summoned before the Prosecutor General's office in
connection with a resolution adopted in September 1998 at a "forum"
held by these Toekes supporters, which resurrected the call for
territorial autonomy and demanded the granting of "double citizenship"
for members of the Hungarian minority by Budapest. Marko was forced to
publicly defend his rivals, though not their ideas. He could have
hardly done otherwise, bearing in mind that the investigation was
opened at the request of nationalist Cluj Mayor Gheorghe Funar.

Budapest has distanced itself from the "double citizenship" demand.
The cabinet headed by Viktor Orban is wisely taking a cautious
position vis-a-vis the internal UDMR struggle. Against the background
of Kosova, the radicalization of the UDMR might indeed turn into too
dangerous a card to play, the more so as Romanian nationalists are
warning against a "Kosova precedent." Emblematically, Marko has spoken
about the need to pre-empt Kosova-like situations by having the
international community act before they become "hot and close to
explosion." While pledging that Hungarian Transylvanians will only use
"political means" to achieve their goals, Marko also warned that the
Yugoslav lesson shows that "he who believes that borders are frozen...
is wrong." The statement was probably intentionally ambiguous, bearing
in mind the growing strength of his opponents in the UDMR. Less driven
by subtleties, some pro-Toekes Transylvanian pundits on several
occasions spoke of changing Western perceptions on solving interethnic
conflicts triggered by the persecution of minorities.

The Toekes-posed challenge has already met with what is hardly a
"moderate response of the moderates," and one of the most interesting
proposals is to have the honorary UDMR chairman (that is, Toekes
himself) allowed to speak in an official position only after the UDMR
chairman (now, Marko) has "clarified" the bishop's statement. In other
words, to silence Toekes. This, in itself, is a sure indication that
the sixth UDMR congress will be anything but a "silent event."
 
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_______________________________________
Panayote Elias Dimitras
Visiting Lecturer
Southeast European Studies
Central European University
Nador u. no 11
1051 Budapest
Hungary
Tel. +36-1-327.38.03
Fax +36-1-327.38.08
e-mail: [email protected]
http://www.greekhelsinki.gr
________________________________________

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