What is www.kepmutatas.hu?

This site is the dedicated web-space of the joint initiative by Freedom House Europe and Transparency International Hungary to bring more transparency and accountability to party- and campaign financing in Hungary.

The word “képmutatás” means “hypocrisy” in Hungarian and, indeed, the current state of party- and campaign financing in Hungary and the position of all parliamentary parties on the issue today is nothing if not hypocritical. While parties profess their desire to clean up the current system and eliminate the corrupt practices surrounding it, they continue spend as much as ten times the legal limit on their campaigns, abuse state and municipal resources for their campaigns, raise funds through illegal channels and spend money in ways that are incompatible with the word, as well as the spirit of the law. Yet, to this day the parties could not find consensus in endorsing a series of amendments that would create a transparent and accountable framework for the funding of political parties and their campaigns. Without serious public pressure for change along the lines of clear policy recommendations, there is little chance for reform in this area.

This joint initiative seeks to incorporate both the high-quality work conducted by other organizations on the subject (most notably, the analysis and policy recommendations developed by the Eötvös Károly Institute) and the lessons learned from their own earlier attempts at exerting pressure on parliamentary parties to arrive at a consensus on the need for and contours of reform in party- and campaign financing.

What is the problem with party- and campaign financing in Hungary today?

Did you know? – The current legal framework regulating campaign financing is clearly inadequate to ensure transparency and accountability in the competition between political parties. Here are ten stunning facts about campaign financing:

1. According to the current laws, parties can spend around HUF 400 million on their election campaigns.
2. Placing a single, 1,5-minute ad on television costs around HUF 1,5 million in Hungary.
3. According to estimates, the parties currently in parliament spent close to HUF 7,3 billion on their campaigns during the 2006 national elections.
4. In election years, parties spend around 500% more on advertising than in other periods.
5. Currently, nothing prevents the participation of ministries, and other publicly-funded institutions in the campaigns.
6. Commercial media can freely provide discounts to political parties without revealing the extent of these discounts, potentially harming the principle of equal playing field during the elections.
7. According to experts, 9 forints out of 10 are channeled to party campaigns through potentially illegal channels and from potentially illegal sources.
8. The money spent by parties on campaigns doubles every four years.
9. In 2010, parties could spend as much as HUF 15 billion on their campaigns
10. Only 16% of Hungarians today believe that the parties respect the laws governing their operations.

What can be done?

Ultimately, it is only the parties themselves, sitting in parliament, who can improve on the current situation and make their campaigns transparent and fully conform to the law. It is up to them to enact new legislation that would close the loopholes and curb the opportunities for corruption. Above all, the following measures are essential for more transparency and accountability:

1. Introduce a designated "Campaign Account"!
   There must be a single, designated bank account from which all campaign spending must be conducted. All credits and withdrawals from this account must be fully verified and made public. Every item related to the campaign must be paid directly from this account and this account only.
2. Increase the ceiling for campaign spending!
   Parties should be able to spend ten times more on their campaigns than the current limit, but all spending must be transparent and verifiable and more severe sanctions should be applied to those who overspend.
3. Shorten the campaign period!
   Campaign activities should only be allowed during a 60-day period before election day. Political advertising must be allowed only during this period.
4. Strengthen oversight of campaigns!
   The State Audit Office must have full access to and oversight of the campaign accounts. The SAO must also have full authority to sanction overspending and campaign activities outside the designated 60-day campaign period. The SAO should use the full extent of its jurisdiction to uncover and sanction wrongdoing during the campaigns.

Where can I find out more?

This project and this website is primarily aimed at key Hungarian audiences and stakeholders, but some of the policy material developed under its auspices has been made available in English, as we believe that these can be useful references for others as well.

You can download the policy briefs detailing our proposals for reform in English from the links below.

To open the documents you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader for free from here: download

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• • Real oversight of parties 
  • Campaigns and media 
  • Campaign account 
  • Governmental and municipal participation 
  • More transparent party foundations 
  • Shorter campaign