Who let the dogs out?
A Lutonian Abroad follows the recent fortunes of the Hungarian Two Tailed Dog Party (MKKP)
Two Tailed Dog Party (MKKP) election poster offering voters-’More of everything: Less of Nothing’ from party leader Gergely Kovács
Britain’s Official Monster Raving Loony Party ask the public to vote for insanity. The Hungarian MKKP promises free beer and eternal life. Their members are called passivists rather than activists. The satirical Hungarian Two Tailed Dog party has achieved something that Screaming Lord Sutch and his successors have failed to do in Britain: see one of their members elected as district mayor in a capital city. Gergely Kovács achieved this at June’s local council elections in Budapest. The MKKP party founder becomes the political leader of the affluent twelfth district of Budapest- Hegyvidék (hill country) from October 1st. There are several opposition alliances running the districts of Budapest now but only the hill country is led alone by satirists.
Kovács defeated the candidate from the national leadership party Fidesz by over four thousand votes. Hungarian news portal telex recently described the area as a bastion of conservatism and it doesn’t feel like the sort of place where absurdist messages would find traction. But like cog wheels on the railway carriages that winds their way into the Buda hills, they have gained a solid hold. Leader of Hungary and Fidesz, Viktor Orbán, resides here in one of many lofty, leafy neighbourhoods. If his bins aren’t emptied, you can bet he will be on the phone to Gergely Kovács, pronto!
Hegyvidék is the second most wealthy district in Budapest. It had been led by a conservative mayor for the last fourteen years. Such has been the Fidesz dominance, that in April Kovács competed in a ‘pre-election’ against other parties to see which joint candidate the local opposition would field. Kovacs won against socialist, centralist, green and independent candidates taking 61 percent of the vote, then maintained the support around him to repeat his success two months later and become Mayor.
In the weeks leading up to the city elections, the Two Tailed Dogs clearly had a more effective poster campaign than Orban’s party. Their posters came out earlier, and were more numerous with thought provoking and humorous statements. Both sides used YouTube advertisements later in the campaign. Other social media as well, no doubt. And all of them campaigned vigorously at local transportation hubs. Perhaps because the European Parliamentary elections were held on the same day, there seemed to be a tremendous level of interest and voter turn-out was high on June 9th.
Second Budapest district candidate Veronika Juhász on her way to campaigning, offering voters ‘The beautiful Life’.
The MKKP satirise the slogans of mainstream parties but their focus on local issues has been the driving factor in widening their electoral base. It’s not a surprise that young people vote for such a Monty Python type view of the world but renovating and beautifying bus shelters, highlighting broken pavements that are never repaired, and identifying issues with tendering for council services, has persuaded older voters to give them a chance too. Always visible and quick to highlight their achievements, everyone knows about them. For example, during Covid times of potential rationing they distributed huge piles of eagerly seized upon, free toilet rolls from outside Metro stations. See their website for more stories of direct action.
https://ketfarkukutya.mkkp.party/hungarian-two-tailed-dog-party/
12th district pavement painted to show need for repairs.
12 th district bus shelter refurbished by the MKKP.
While the MKKP wag their tails provocatively, they have shown enough to suggest their paws are firmly on the ground. Before we leave the cliches, we must also wonder if their bite will be as determined as their bark at the twelfth district town hall. It will be interesting to see if the Two Tailed Dogs can achieve the kind of citizen led, democratically based outcomes that they promise. Despite the national domination of Hungarian politics by right wing Fidesz, in electoral terms Budapest is a leftist, liberal, greenish sort of place, not unlike other European capitals. There is the desire, as proclaimed by a former rival party to the MKKP, to ‘make politics different’ from the prevailing left/right divide. The Two Tailed Dogs will have to meet the needs of the parties who lent them their support to defeat Fidesz. Responding to the different factions may require some canine ingenuity.
In such a well-heeled part of Buda the challenges facing the Two Tailed Dogs are not about poverty and social exclusion as found over the Danube in Pest. They are more about concrete and cars, planning permission and pollution. Much of the twelfth district is green and quiet but the geography of the area forces traffic through those valleys shallow enough to allow major roads. Many streets are crowded with cars, precipitous and difficult to navigate in icy conditions. Hop-and-stopa sized buses are the only form of public transport that can navigate hills reaching 527 metres (1729 feet). Only one conventional tram can crawl up to a central part of the district. The Cog Wheel railway is scenic but slow and in need of frequent repair.
Local amenities are often sparse in the upper areas. Local shops frequently non-existent. Car ownership rates are therefore high. Longevity is good here and the needs of an ageing population are significant already, no doubt growing every year. The problems facing the Two Tailed dogs in Hegyvidék are about the consequences of affluence, not from its creation. In that sense it’s a perfect place to experiment with power, although of course the MKKP passivists wouldn’t see things that way. As well as holding the mayor’s position they enter the new constituency period with ten councillors in the hill country administration, seeking to subdue their egos and express the will of the people as they take office. Some local people might consider them barking mad but they have five years of rule to change that opinion.
Two Tail Dogs election campaigning.
Two Tail Dog candidates in the 12th district.
Who let the dogs out and why are questions worth probing further. As well as the expected youth vote and support from left/liberal/green residents, they must have gained disillusioned conservative voters as well. Residents who couldn’t face voting for Orban’s incumbent or one supporting his new rival on the right - Péter Magyar. One former Fidesz voter expressed to me that what people really like about the Two Tail Dogs, is that they are very practical. Beyond the crazy slogans they actually listen, and their teams of passivists solve local problems mainstream politicians don’t seem to be interested in.
Across Budapest the Two Tail Dogs now hold thirty representative positions. One of their members, Krisztina Baranyi leads a ‘mixed platform’ as Mayor with other non-conservative parties in youthful and cosmopolitan district nine. She also represents the MKKP in the Budapest Assembly after taking 8 % of the city vote. Nationally, the party hold a further nineteen council positions. Having being founded in 2006 in Szeged by Gergely Kovács, their star is still in the ascent. In the European Parliamentary Elections, they came close to sending a representative to Brussels.
In absurdist fashion, I wonder if their success is in any way down to their choice of name. In terms of pet ownership dogs dominate the city and country. Compared to many nations there are very few cats to be seen. It is neither their bark nor their bite which the opposition should fear from the MKKP. Perhaps it’s just a charming sense of fun and the capacity to get small things done: to finish their bowl without leaving Winalot and gravy all over the floor. And if they sit there mournfully, but with a twinkle in the eye, asking for more supper -who’s to say the electorate won’t continue to throw them further tasty morsels. Maybe that’s where Screaming Lord Sutch went wrong. He simply wasn’t cute enough.