Protesters attend a rally against tax change by hungarian Prime Minister鈥檚 government, in Budapest on July 16, 2022. AFP
叠鲍顿础笔贰厂罢鈥�Thousands protested on Saturday in Budapest for a fifth day against Prime Minister Viktor Orban鈥檚 government as anger deepens over tax changes that critics say will hurt small businesses.
Hungarians have taken to the streets since the parliament approved a law change on Tuesday that will affect hundreds of thousands of small-sized business owners.
The protests are the first since Orban won a consecutive fourth term by a landslide in April.
Several thousand people marched through downtown Budapest on Saturday, chanting 鈥淥rban get lost鈥�.
鈥淚t鈥檚 crazy what they (the government) have done. This will not lead to more income for the budget,鈥� one protester, 37-year-old lawyer Ilona Pusztai, told AFP.
鈥淭he government is currently planning such austerity measures (but) people cannot tolerate them anymore,鈥� said another protester, Zoltan Gemesi, a 68-year-old teacher.
People take part in a rally under the motto 聭Stand for victims of Orban聮s government聮 against the new taxation rules near the Margaret Bridge in Budapest on July 16, 2022. AFP
Addressing the rally, Peter Marki-Zay, who headed a united opposition but lost against Orban in April, said the nationalist premier鈥檚 campaign promises had been 鈥減roven to be lies鈥�.
In his regular radio address on Friday, Orban defended the tax law change as 鈥済ood and necessary鈥�.
Despite price caps on essentials, the central European country faces soaring inflation and a plunging local currency amid talks with Brussels over held-up EU funding.
Hungary, which largely depends on Russian oil and gas, declared a 鈥渟tate of danger鈥� on Wednesday over the energy crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine.
Among the measures to tackle the problem, people who consume more than the average amount of energy will have to pay for it at the market price rather than the heavily subsidised state rate.
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