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2014 should be about civil society instead of politics

„We don’t need new politicians, we need civil society institutions and movements which bring politics to account and urge the separation of public authorities and for profit business activity”, wrote Róbert Puzsér in an op-ed published on atlatszo.hu. Puzsér is a Hungarian journalist and television personality who has been supporting atlatszo.hu’s work in 2013.

In his New Year’s op-ed Puzsér points out that members of Hungary’s civil society are making wrong decisions when they become politicians in order to change the situation in the country. Instead of entering the corruption loop of party politics, they should start initiatives focusing on the empowerment of citizens and force the government to take steps towards the development of public good and sustainability. Effective social control mechanisms would make it irrelevant who is the person in charge of the government, says Puzsér.

Róbert Puzsér’s advice for 2014 is to follow the example of atlatszo.hu which has become a strong and independent organisation of Hungarian civil society: “Just another ten websites of the same kind, and I swear the political elite or the oligarchs’ business partners wouldn’t channel the the same amount of money out [of the state budget] as they do now”.

The original article was published on 1th January 2014.

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