Gordon Bajnai

Gordon Bajnai in Israel

György Gordon Bajnai (born March 5, 1968 in Szeged ) is a Hungarian politician and was Prime Minister of Hungary from April 14, 2009 to May 29, 2010 . Until his election as Prime Minister he was Minister for National Development and Economy. Bajnai was elected to this office by parliament through a constructive vote of no confidence in his predecessor, Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány .

Life

In the last few years before the political change in 1989, Bajnai belonged to the socialist youth association of the People's Republic of Hungary, but did not hold a leading position there. From 1991 he studied international relations at the Budapest University for Economic Studies (today: Corvinus University Budapest ). In the same year he took over a post in the private sector (Financial Group Creditum) for the first time. Until 2006 he remained active in the private sector, especially with several financial groups. In 2003 he was voted “Young Manager of the Year” by the Hungarian Federation of Industrialists. Bajnai is married and has two children.

Political career

It was not until 2006 that he took over a political function for the first time, when Prime Minister Gyurcsány (whom he had met in the communist youth association KISZ) appointed him government commissioner for development policy at the National Development Agency. Only a year later he was appointed Minister for Local Self-Government and Regional Development in the Cabinet. In 2008 he changed to the department for national development and economy. On March 29, 2009, Prime Minister Gyurcsány himself nominated him as the new head of government. Gyurcsány had recently announced his resignation due to a lack of popular support and declared that he wanted to elect an economic expert as his successor by means of a constructive vote of no confidence. Bajnai accepted the nomination and immediately afterwards announced an even tougher reform course due to the effects of the global economic crisis in 2008 , which would bring painful cuts for "every Hungarian" but was inevitable.

Controversy

From 2000 to 2005, Bajnai was chairman of the conglomerate Wallis Rt. (AG) . He is still heavily criticized for his actions and decisions in this position. After the takeover and subsequent liquidation of the poultry processing company Hajdú-Bét Rt. By the Wallis Rt. , Bajnai is said not to have done enough to prevent bankruptcy. The company, which has since gone bankrupt, still owes 5.5 billion forints to its suppliers. As a result, numerous family businesses that have supplied the Hajdú-Bét company with poultry are facing severe financial and existential hardship. Nine farmers committed suicide in the wake of the bankruptcy. It is also viewed critically that Cypriot offshore companies were involved in both the takeover of Hajdú-Bét by Wallis and the bankruptcy. Bajnai has not been sued and stresses that there have been no legal violations.

Web links

Commons : Gordon Bajnai  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ hvg online: Gyurcsány ment, Bajnai jött (Gyurcsány went, Bajnai came) , March 30, 2009
2. ^ Süddeutsche Zeitung: Gordon Bajnai New Favorite for the Office of Prime Minister in Hungary , March 31, 2009
3. ^ Mitteldeutsche Zeitung : Gordon Bajnai - Head of Government out of emergency solution , March 30, 2009
4. ↑ Curriculum vitae on the website of the Hungarian government http://www.meh.hu  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ Reuters Germany: Hungary's Prime Minister-designate for drastic reforms , March 30, 2009
6. ↑ Gergely Kispál: Manager and Billionaire in: Budapester Zeitung, April 6, 2009