© Müller Judit

Is it not awkward that the MDF, which aspires to be the third force in Parliament, has not managed to put up a candidate in every constituency?

We were under attack, which made it hard to find enough candidates. There was a real danger of our candidates being forced into standing down under pressure from Fidesz. They were threatened in 27 constituencies, despite which we managed to stand 165 candidates, all of whom are truly our own. Things have improved since the Kalocsa blackmail case came to light. We proved that it was possible to confront the blackmailers. Thanks for your concern, but we have enough candidates, and we are going to surprise you all.

And those candidates who did not manage to collect enough signatures? Did they fail deliberately, seduced by Fidesz?

This may have played a role. The big parties did everything they could to steal signatures from their rivals. There was also a new phenomenon of voters worrying their personal information might get into the wrong hands and that their political preferences would be revealed. It would seem this suspicion was well-grounded: they will do anything for power.

Your campaign message is that while the two big parties are intoxicating society with populist promises, you are a "sober" platform for a "normal" Hungary. But where is the line between populism and popularity?

A long-term popular programme can only by carried out by bearing in mind the realities. Everyone has seen through the avalanche of campaign promises - it is impossible to take them seriously, especially when public debt is do high. We are advancing slowly but surely towards bankruptcy. And nobody is pointing out that, however enticing the plans, the EU is not going to give a penny for development.

You keep saying that the budget deficit has to be cut by HUF500bn to HUF600bn from its current level of HUF1500. How would you do this?

The pace depends on how quickly we want the euro. We have to cut staffing levels at local authorities, ministries and all kinds of other public institutions, and we also have to reduce the number of MPs. We envisage a parliament of some 150 to 160 MPs. There are more senior civil servants than we need, all with their secretariats, expensive cars and prerogatives. We have to make changes here, as well.

Polls show voters are taking these promises ever less seriously.

I think it sad that neither politicians nor the public believe in campaign promises any more. The politicians have really messed up here.

You speak as if you were not a politician. As if your party had not been in both the Antall and Orbán governments.

I stand by all the decisions I took as the sole MDF minister in Orbán's government. No files disappeared from the Justice Ministry, nobody took anything home. But while we dominated that 1990-1994 coalition, in 1998-2002 we were a smaller player. So we can only take full responsibility for our first term in government. But even in our second term, we frequently argued against silly government proposals - we did not apply double standards. We voted against removing the obligation to be a member of a professional association, and we did not vote for Péter Polt as chief public prosecutor. I regard it as an achievement that we prevented József Torgyán from being elected president.