1987. szeptember (101-111. szám) / HU_BFL_XIV_47_2
fi -l: HjWWAftlAN 9í5ÍTft&B£‘í-.i-|'> llCtoimi 24/0 Littla Rv»»«ll Stfe«t, LONDONI, W-C.l • Ttl. 0<-4>O H 24 • G. Rroné 107/1987 (E) 20th September, 1987 Open Letter to Parliamentary Representatives As has been reported in the western newspapers - see Financial Times September 18 - a large number of Hungárián citizens sent an open letter to parliament representatives a week before the opening of the Autumn session. The open letter, which was nőt delivered in time to reach the majority of the régiónál representatives, was signed by exactly one hundred well known Hungárián cultural figures. Among the signatories were economists (László Antal, Tamás Bauer, Márton Tardos), historians (Gyula Benda, Lajos Für, Géza Perjés, Miklós Szabó), literary historians (Iván Bába, Sándor Lukácsy, Béla Pomogáts, Erzsébet Vezér), sociologists (Zsuzsa Ferge, József Hegedűs, Júlia Szalai), writers and poets (Gábor Czakó, Zsolt Csalog, István Csurka, Gyula Fekete, Árpád Göncz, Gyula Hernádi, Gyula Kodolányi, György Konrád, Sándor Lezsák, Iván Mándy, Miklós Mészöly, Margit Szécsi), composers and musicians (János Bródy, Zoltán Jeney, Zoltán Kocsis), film directors (András Lányi, Pál Schiffer). The letter was alsó signed by the priest Gábor Iványi, the technician András Balczó, who was an olympic Champion, many who were political prisoners in 1956 (Imre Mécs, Sándor Rácz, Miklós Vásárhelyi) and participants in the Democratic Opposition movement (Gábor Demszky, Miklós Haraszti, János Kis, Ferenc Kőszeg, László Rajk, Ottilia Solt, Gáspár Miklós Tamás). The open letter - which is summarized below - called upon the representatives nőt to post-sanction already reached goverment decisions and to change parliament so that it become "the supreme organ of social control over and above the goverment". The letter States that the country is in crisis. Living conditions are declining at a terrible rate; living standards, the housing situation and health provision. The morál conditions of social living are disintegrating, the birth rate is decreasing and the death rate dramatically increasing. The populace is trying to profit from the black economy. "Far from surpassing the West, nowadays we cannot even keep up with it." The dangerous threat hangs over Hungary that it could become one of those underdeveloped countries which stagnate on the margin of world economy. The external floating debt is permanently increasing. The political leadership alsó acknowledges the necessity fór change and talks of continuing the economic reform process. However it "Does nőt confront the reál reasons fór the economic failure in the eighties, and the reform promises a progress which does nőt advance much more than that which has been planned many times before". The "financial measures, with their incalculable results, threaten with serious production troubles and a lack of consumer goods. We must renounce the advantages promised by the economic system which was introduced in 1948 : employment security, stable prices, free education, public health provisions and index linked pensions. The leaders of the country still do nőt realise and are open enough to the gravity of the situation. The open letter stated: "Thus the roots of the problem are deeply entrenched in the economic system and interlaced with the constitution of political power. It is untrue and unfair to always announce that we consume more than we produce. Especially now when reál wages have
