Raising almost 1,600 euros in 27 days (with the donation of 221 people), a Hungarian citizien has ordered surveys from all three large local pollsters to see what his compatriots actually think about a new law that prevents retail stores - with a few exceptions - from opening on Sunday. The results speak for themselves.
Péter Balla decided in January this year that if the government had failed to assess what economic impacts the Sunday shopping ban would have and whether Hungarians actually supported this measure, he will find out himself. The law on the Sunday closure of retail stores came into effect on 15 March.
As a private individual - without the backing of any political party - Balla has launched an online campaign to raise enough money (EUR 1,300) to order surveys from the three largest pollsters in the country, Ipsos, Medián and Tárki.
According to the website of the campaign, 221 people donated a total of EUR 1,592 by the 28 February deadline.
“I haven’t seen any survey result or study by which the cabinet could have provided a sound reason for the Sunday closure of retail stores and it rejects any request for a referendum on the matter on bogus grounds," Balla explained his drive.
He said the cabinet arguing that this is to ensure that families are together on Sunday “is a bit hypocritical reason", because anyone who wanted to be with their family could do it even if the stores are open on Sunday.
“The only exceptions are those commercial employees who work on Sunday but I don’t think that they would be made especially happy [by the measure] when every seventh people will be sacked as one seventh of the labour demand will cease to exist."
He said he merely wanted to find out what people think about the Sunday shopping ban.
Balla studied economics and international communications and is currently working in the corporate world as a business process regulations expert while doing websites and online marketing as a side job.
Balla was hoping to find that the majority of Hungarians do not support this piece of legislation and that the cabinet will finally be faced with this fact.
Well, his hopes were confirmed. He has published the first results from the third survey on his website on Wednesday. Portfolio has put together a chart showing the averages of the surveys of the three pollsters. As you can see, 62% of those polled said they were against the measure implemented on the proposal of the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP).
If you speak Hungarian and are not easily offended by some outlandish sh..t, let us suggest you this lovely little song which reveals what another (infuriated) Hungarian citizen thinks about the Sunday shopping ban. Parental guidance suggested.
Gergely Gulyás, an MP of the ruling Fidesz party, has explained news portal origo.hu on Wednesday why the government gave into the KDNP and implemented the Sunday closure law.
The question was this: “Can the Sunday closure of retail stores have a positive political impact?"
The response was this: “It has an unambiguous and clear positive economic impact that small stores in Hungarian ownership are allowed to be open [on Sunday] so for us this is certainly a positive thing. At a value-based political decision you often need to contemplate not just whether the decision will be popular or not [and] whether it will have a short-term political benefit."
With this remark Gulyás has practically acknowledged that one of the benefits of the measure for the governing party stems from is selective characteristic. And because the government made a value-based decision, there is no need for any kind of impact study or for the measure to have any kind of economic justification.
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