Shaun Walker - 'We won't keep quiet again': the women taking on Viktor Orbán
A new wave of female politicians and
protesters are offering an alternative to the Hungary PM’s macho politics When the speakers took
the stage to address the crowds
of protesters in front of Budapest’s imposing parliament building on
Sunday, they had two things in common. They were all staunch opponents of
Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s far-right prime minister. And they were all women. In a country where
Orbán’s populist politics have a distinctly macho flavour, and debates about
women often come in the context of child-bearing and family life, the political
opposition is being voiced in a united and distinctly female front.
“We wanted to send a
message that female parliamentarians, and women in Hungary, should be heard,”
said Ágnes Vadai, an MP from the Democratic Coalition, who said it was a
conscious decision from opposition parties to send female MPs to speak to the
crowd. Hungary’s protests
were sparked by a so-called “slave law”, passed
by the Hungarian parliament last week, which allows employers to demand
more overtime from their workers and delay payments for up to three years. A
showdown in parliament, in which female MPs blocked the speaker podium and blew
whistles in protest at the law, was followed by a series of street
demonstrations.
see also
Hitler's annihilation of the Romanis (the Gypsies of Europe)
"We are Europe's misery" - plight of the Romany people in France
"We are Europe's misery" - plight of the Romany people in France
