Mayor of capital applies classic leftist-liberal double standards

Mayor of capital applies classic leftist-liberal double standards

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony had taught at university without proper credentials and required foreign language proficiency, the investigation of the Hungarian Educational Office uncovered, which spurred outrage in Hungary. The leftist-liberal mayor is evading responsibility in the matter, despite only a few years ago having denounced the then Hungarian president, who became entangled in a scandal over his doctoral dissertation, as a petty thief and a liar.

English POLITIKA 2021. SZEPTEMBER 16. 15:20

„We f**ked up, not a little, but big time,” as Gergely Karacsony’s boss had put it earlier. As V4NA wrote, he Hungarian Education Office’s (OH) investigation – reaching as far back as 1 January 2014 – into the legality of thirty-two lecturers on staff at the Corvinus University of Budapest, has come to an end. As it turns out, only the current left-wing mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karacsony, did not meet the necessary conditions for employment at the institution, writes the Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet. The OH found that Mr Karacsony’s

appointment as a teaching assistant went against regulations because he did not possess the prescribed qualification of a comprehensive (type C) proficiency certificate or equivalent state-recognised certificate in at least one foreign language. His appointment as assistant professor also proved to be unlawful as, according to the documents on file, Karacsony had never officially enrolled as a PhD candidate, which is a condition of filling the position.

The left-liberal mayor refuses to take responsibility for what the findings showed; rather, he is pointing a finger at the university. Responding to a question by Mediaworks’ News Centre, he said he had not gleaned any advantages from being illegally employed in the absence of a required qualifications.

The left liberal mayor did not touch on any advantages he might have later gained by including his university post on his CV.

He claims that as a university professor he would have received the same salary as an assistant lecturer. But Mr Karacsony was silent about his status as assistant lecturer lasting only from 2004 to 2008, while in the following four years he was appointed senior lecturer, which certainly entailed a higher salary.

Moreover, Mr Karacsony fell even further short of meeting the criteria for being a senior lecturer than for the position of assistant lecturer, as, for example, he was not able to hold a lecture in a foreign language. However, the mayor is now dismissing the issue by explaining that he could have been employed at Corvinus University according to the regulations with a different contract status, but the university “messed up.”

In response to the question as to whether he was favoured for being the advisor of then premier Ferenc Gyurcsany, he said,

„Stop this nonsense, already!”

In another statement, Mr Karacsony pointed a finger at Corvinus University in the scandal, saying “he was just doing his job.”

The leftist-liberal politician, who happens to also be in the running in the prime ministerial primaries for the left coalition, clearly refuses to accept any responsibility for the matter. Even amidst the growing scandal around his lack of qualifications, he eagerly points the finger at others, and is less lenient when passing judgement over similar cases.

In 2012, then Hungarian President Pal Schmitt was caught up in a plagiarism scandal over parts of his doctoral thesis.

At the time, Mr Karacsony called Hungary’s highest public official a petty thief and a liar. He even questioned the authority of the president, demanding that he face the consequences for his actions.

Mr Schmitt eventually resigned. Now, Mr Karacsony is still the mayor of Budapest and a running candidate for prime minister.

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