János Lázár

János Lázár MP
Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 June 2014
Prime Minister	Viktor Orbán
Preceded by	himself as Secretary of State
Secretary of State of the Prime Minister’s Office
In office 2 June 2012 – 6 June 2014
Preceded by	Mihály Varga
Succeeded by	himself as Minister
Mayor of Hódmezővásárhely
In office 20 October 2002 – 6 September 2012
Preceded by	András Rapcsák
Succeeded by	István Almási
Member of the National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 May 2002
Personal details
Born	(1975-02-19) 19 February 1975 Hódmezővásárhely, Hungary
Political party	Fidesz (conservative)
Spouse(s)	Zita Lázárné Megyeri
Children	János Boldizsár Zsigmond Bertalan
Alma mater	József Attila University of Sciences

János Lázár (born 19 February 1975) is a Hungarian politician, former leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group and current Minister of Prime Minister's Office. He also served as Mayor of Hódmezővásárhely from 2002 to 2012.

Career

He started his career as a law apprentice at city council of Hódmezővásárhely at 1995. He was personal secretary at the Hungarian Parliament at 1999. He joined Fidesz in 2000. He became both a Parliament representative and mayor of Hódmezővásárhely at 2002, following the death of his mentor András Rapcsák.^[1] In 2002, he became a member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP) too.

He became leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group after the 2010 election, succeeding Tibor Navracsics in this position.

Lázár was appointed Secretary of State of Prime Minister's Office on 2 June 2012, as a result he resigned from the office of mayor of Hódmezővásárhely. He was replaced by Antal Rogán as head of the Fidesz parliamentary group on that day. Lázár was elected one of the four vice-presidents of Fidesz in September 2013, replacing Mihály Varga. He held that party office until December 2015.^[2] Lázár was promoted to Minister of the Prime Minister's Office following the 2014 parliamentary election.

Controversy

On 18 November 2010 János Lázár criticized strongly the former President of the Constitutional Court of Hungary, László Sólyom in an interview published in Népszabadság^[3]

In March 2011 In the recording posted on the Internet, Lázár as mayor of Hódmezővásárhely could be heard telling the city council in 2008 that "those people who have nothing are worth just that". Addressing a press conference, Lázár said, '"I would like to apologise to Hungary for my ambiguous and misunderstood statement. I would like to apologise to all who feel hurt by that".

He said that his remark had not referred to the poor but to those who were unsuccessful in their profession but embarked on a political career merely with the purpose of making a livelihood and for financial gains. Lázár also said the remarks were parts of a longer speech and out of their original context. The three opposition parties slammed the senior Fidesz official for his remarks.^[4]

On 12 May 2014, a Hungarian news website "origo" published an article about his travels on the Hungarian government's budget, which led Lázár to pay back 2 million forints to the state budget. On 2 June, the lead editor of the website was fired, allegedly under pressure from Lázár, who denied being involved in the decision.^[5]

References

1. ↑ "Biography of János Lázár". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 2014-06-06. 
2. ↑ "Fidesz-kongresszus - Varga Mihály lemondott az alelnökségről". Inforadio.hu. Retrieved 2013-09-28. 
3. ↑ "János Lázár interviewed: The Constitution is the problem". Népszabadság. Retrieved 2010-11-18. 
4. ↑ "Fidesz parliamentary leader apologises for "poverty remarks"". Politics.hu. Retrieved 2011-10-05. 
5. ↑ "Fellibben a fátyol Lázár János titkos küldetéseiről". origo.hu. Retrieved 2014-05-12. 

External links

• hvg.hu, 4 May 2007, Interview with Janos Lazar
• Fellibben a fátyol Lázár János titkos küldetéseiről, Origo, 2014. május 12.