Krumpliosztás (Hungary)

Krumpliosztás 🇭🇺
Location: Hungary
Definition: Electoral candidates distributing food and discounts to voters to gain votes
Keywords: Hungary – Europe – EU – Elections – Political party – Food – Donation – Moral ambivalence‏ – Fraud – Vote exchange – Favour
Clusters: Patron-client networks
Author: Zsofia Stavri
Affiliation: Alumna, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, UK

By Zsofia Stavri, Alumna, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, UK

The Hungarian practice of krumpliosztás can be literally translated as 'potato giving', and it refers to the act of giving food to the electorate in hope to sway their votes . The practice dates to the democratic transition of 1989, when a fall in living standards, growing uncertainty and the deficit of democratic norms were first exploited by political candidates. As the concrete origins of the practice are unknown, it is assumed that the practice could have started as an honest attempt to help the poor.

The recipients are often vulnerable members of society, such as poor and pensioners. (Német 2019). In fact, Hungarian pensioners are in the bottom third in the European Union for purchasing power of pensions, and with every third person in the country being over sixty years old, they represent a significant voting force. In 2011, it was estimated that 3.05 million people were poor in Hungary, and 500-600 thousand of them were Roma, almost the entirety of those living in the country (Horváth 2014). In the weeks preceding the 2018 Hungarian parliamentary elections, Dikh TV, a television channel particularly popular among the Roma minority, campaigned against krumpliosztás, condemning the fact that sometimes votes are 'sold' for a couple of eggs (Boros 2018).

Politicians usually practice krumpliosztás openly, handing food to their constituents. Although the colloquial term refers to potatoes, sometimes it can involve a 'discount market' of sorts for goods at a much cheaper price. Foodstuffs can be decorated with the image of the politician up for election in the given district. Sometimes the politician personally hands out the food to the grateful public conveying a sense of genuineness and friendliness (Német 2019, Erdélyi et. al. 2019).

While krumpliosztás relies on ethically ambiguous means, there is a thin line with vote buying. In 2016, the opposition party Együtt made an official complaint when a candidate of the ruling Fidesz party included a letter urging people to take part in the upcoming referendum on migration in the gifted bags of potatoes (Origo 2016). At the opposite end of the spectrum, the mayor of the 13th district in Budapest, József Tóth, changed the date of his municipality’s act of charity towards residents to the day after the election so not to be read as a way of buying votes (Haszán 2019).

The origin of funds for the practice is often hard to ascertain, as many politicians cite anonymous donors or declare to have paid themselves (Haszán 2018). These claims are rarely confirmed by trusted sources. The giving can also be initiated by the municipality and read as recurring charitable act (Erdélyi et. al. 2019). On the other hand, governmental funds are easily funnelled into paying gifts to promote candidates. As such, the practice tends to favour those in power, especially because parties rely on governmental funds for their survival (Transparency International 2017). Hence, this top-down informal practice creates political inequalities, often affecting the reliability of local and general elections (Helmke and Levitsky 2004:731).

The phenomenon of krumplosztás is so iconic in political culture that in 2020 Péter Jakab, leader of the party 'Jobbik', tried to hand the prime minister Viktor Orbán a bag of potatoes in an act of protest against what he saw as vote-buying in the voting district of Borsod (Herczeg 2020). Jakab had previously dubbed Orbán 'The King of Potatoes' (Sarkadi 2020). Krumplosztás is also a trope in popular culture, with many online memes making fun of the practice. One recent example is a picture of the US President Joe Biden with the subtitle 'Yes, I did it without giving potatoes'. Another one included a list of the different translations of the word 'potato' in different languages, with the Hungarian version being the word for vote (Make a meme 2020, Krumplis 2019).

Practices similar to krumpliosztás exist in other post-socialist countries, such as in Ukraine where politicians give people food packages, sometimes filled with buckwheat (grechka) in exchange for votes (Euromaidan Press 2017). In Moldova, pensioners can register to receive cards that enable them to shop in 'Șor' party discount shops, a boon for the constrained financial realities faced by pensioners (Timotina 2018). In Bulgaria, the practice of votes of impoverished ethnic minorities exchanged for foodstuffs is a frequent occurrence (Jordan 2009). Finally, beyond the post-Soviet space, similarities can be found with the Italian practice voto di scambio, (Camerani 2018).

References

Bakró-Nagy, F., Fillér, M., Lengyel-Szabó, P., Miklósi, G. and Trencsényi, A. 2019. 'Miért ennyire aktívak a nyugdíjasok politikailag? [Why are pensioners so active politically?]'. Index.hu. Available at: https://index.hu/video/2019/10/11/nyugdijasok_idosek_politikai_aktivitas_nyugdij_rezsi_krumpli_orban_gyurcsany_fidesz_dk_tuntetes_kihasznalas/. Accessed: 2020.12.23

Boros, J. 2018. 'Ne az legyen, hogy egy doboz tojással megveszik a cigányok szavazatát [Don’t let them buy the votes of the Roma with a box of eggs]'. 444.hu. Available at: https://444.hu/2018/02/26/ne-az-legyen-hogy-egy-doboz-tojassal-megveszik-a-ciganyok-szavazatat. Accessed: 2021.01.02

Camerani, A .2018. 'Voto di scambio (Italy)'. Global Informality Project. Available at: https://www.in-formality.com/wiki/index.php?title=Voto_di_scambio_(Italy). Accessed: 2021. 03.30

Erdélyi, P., Sarkadi, Z., Halász, J., Kiss, B. 2019. 'Újkori feudalizmus: országszerte étellel és adományokkal tömik a választókat a politikusok [New age feudalism: around the country politicians are stuffing the electorate with food and gifts]'. 444.hu. Available at: https://444.hu/2019/10/12/ujkori-feudalizmus-orszagszerte-etellel-es-adomanyokkal-tomik-a-valasztoikat-a-politikusok. Accessed: 2020.12.20

Euromaidan Press. 2017. 'Why Ukrainian parliament voted to change the election system against its own will'. Euromaidan Press. Available at: http://euromaidanpress.com/2017/11/11/why-the-ukrainian-parliament-voted-to-change-the-election-system-against-its-own-will/. Accessed: 2020.12.20

Haszán, Z. 2018. 'A Fidesz úgy talpra állította a gazdaságot, hogy a kampányoló kormánypárti politikusok nem győznek közkívánatra ingyen ételt osztani a rászolrulóknak [Fidesz has strengthened the economy so much that campaigning politicians of the party are overwhelmed with giving free food to the needy]'. 444.hu. Available at: https://444.hu/2018/01/25/a-fidesz-ugy-talpra-allitotta-a-gazdasagot-hogy-a-kampanyolo-kormanyparti-politikusok-nem-gyoznek-kozkivanatra-ingyen-etelt-osztogatni-a-raszoruloknak. Accessed: 2021. 04. 26

Haszán, Z. 2019.' Máris kettőre ugrott az olcsókrumpli számláló [The cheap potato counter has already jumped to two]'. 444.hu. Available at: https://444.hu/2019/10/16/maris-kettore-ugrott-az-olcsokrumpli-szamlalo. Accessed: 2020.12.20

Helmke, G. and Levitsky, S. 2004. 'Informal Institutions and Comparative Politics: A Research Agenda'. Perspectives on Politics, 2(4): 725-740

Herczeg, M. 2020. 'A Fidesz-KDNP megszavazta Jakab Péter 4,4 millió forintos rekordbírságát, majd elvették tőle a szót, amikor Tiborczról kezdett el beszélni [Fidesz-KDNP voted for Péter Jakab’s 4.4 million forint record fine and then took the right to speak from him when he started to talk about Tiborcz'. 444.hu. Available at: https://444.hu/2020/11/30/a-fidesz-kdnp-megszavazta-jakab-peter-44-millio-forintos-rekordbirsagat. Accessed: 2021.01.02

Horváth, B. 2014. 'Az ombudsmani jelentés szerint hárommillió szegény él Magyarországon [The ombudsman’s report says there are three million poor people in Hungary]'. 444.hu. Available at: https://444.hu/2014/03/30/az-ombudsmani-jelentes-szerint-harommillio-szegeny-ember-el-magyarorszagon. Accessed: 2021.01.03.

Jordan, M. J. 2009. 'The Business of Politics'. Available at: https://jordanink.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/the-business-of-politics/. Accessed: 2021.01.02

Központi Statisztikai Hivatal. 2019. 'Nyugdíjak és egyéb ellátások, 2019 [Pensions and other provisions]'. Központi Statisztikai Hivatal. Available at: https://www.ksh.hu/docs/hun/xftp/idoszaki/regiok/orsz/nyugdij/nyugdij19.pdf. Accessed: 2021.01.20

Krumplis, B. 2019. 'Krumpli=szavazat [Potato=vote]'. Facebook.com. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/krumplisbence/photos/501833667048109. Accessed: 2021.02.02

Make a meme. 2020. 'Nekem igenis sikerült krumpliosztás nélkül [ I did it without potato giving]'. Available at: https://makeameme.org/meme/nekem-igenis-sikerlt. Accessed: 2021.02.02

Német, Tamás. 2019. 'Mit kínál a magyar kampány? [What do Hungarian campaigns offer?]'. Index.hu. Available at: https://index.hu/belfold/2019/10/12/mit_kinal_a_magyar_kampany/. Accessed: 2020.12.20

Origo. 2016. 'Szavazásra buzdít Wintermantel Zsolt [Zsolt Wintermantel encourages voting]'. Origo.hu. Available at: https://www.origo.hu/itthon/20160927-krumpliosztas-miatt-a-valasztasi-bizottsaghoz-fordul-az-egyutt.html. Accessed at: 2021.01.02

Sarkadi, Z. 2020. 'Jakab Péter: Krumplikirály van Magyarországon, ma koronáztuk meg [Péter Jakab: There is a Potato king in Hungary, we crowned him today]'. 444.hu. Available at: https://444.hu/2020/10/11/jakab-peter-krumplikiraly-van-magyarorszagon-ma-koronaztuk-meg. Accessed: 2020.12.12

Timotina, M. 2018. 'Паутина Шора. Как практичный бизнесмен придал торговым точкам функции территориальных партийных организаций [Sor’s Web. How a Practical Businessman Gave Shops the Function of Territorial Party Organisations]'. Vedomosti.md. Available at: http://www.vedomosti.md/news/pautina-shora-kak-praktichnyj-biznesmen-pridal-torgovym-toch. Accessed: 2020.12.20

Transparency International. 2017. 'Választások, politikafinanszírozás [Elections, financing politics]'. Transparency International Hungary. Available at: https://transparency.hu/kozszektor/valasztasok-part-es-kampanyfinanszirozas/. Accessed: 2021.01.20