The scandal surrounding the Socialist managers of Budapest s 19th district has reached a new stage. Csaba Lackner, former 19th-district councillor of the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP), now an independent, claims that Krisztian Kranitz - the director of the district s property management company - used cocaine, as evidenced by a recently released video.

Speaking to a program (Informator) recently broadcast by Hungary s HirTV, a man known as „the left wing s chauffeur” claimed that he used to drive Socialist politicians from Budapest s 19th district to cocaine parties. In a video (filmed at night in June 2019) and obtained by the Hungarian 888.hu news site, Csaba Lackner – a former Socialist councillor and central figure of the ongoing cocaine scandal – claims that Krisztian Kranitz (aka Krinyo) – a former Socialist councillor in Budapest s 19th district and current director of the district s property management company, who s already been investigated on graft charges – sniffed cocaine in the bathroom of a catering establishment during a friend s party.

In an audio clip recorded on the night of 8 June, 2019, Mr Lackner is heard talking about smoking drugs in the toilet.

A few minutes later, Mr Lackner names the drug they used, when he is quizzed about Mr Kranitz:

„It s up to you, I m just saying, but I just can t get over this programme of yours, about Kranitz.”

„What porgramme? On the coke stuff?”

„What coke stuff? „

„We were talking about cocaine, weren t we?”

888 recalls that the district s leftist leaders have, for a long time, turned a blind eye to an earlier video where Mr Lackner, or someone very similar to him, is seen swinging around a bag full of white powder. At first Socialist district councillor Sandor Burany (member of the Dialogue (Parbeszed) party s parliamentary group) and then Socialist Mayor Peter Gajda reluctantly admitted that the unknown stranger drying the white powder and pulling out neat strips does bear a striking resemblance to Csaba Lackner.

Moreover, the audio recording obtained by the portal proves that news reports regarding Mr Kranitz s cocaine use probably came as little or no surprise to Mayor Peter Gajda because, according to Mr Lackner, the mayor had been notified about Mr Kranicz s drug problem.

Last year the daily Magyar Nemzet and HirTV have published several recordings regarding the 19th-district scandal. These show the Socialist politician swinging around a bag of white powder and talking about how to „make” around 100 million forints (278 thousand euros) a year.