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POLITICAL TRANSITION AND THE PROFESSIONALISATION OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION | 171

the time limit for the prime minister’s obligatory response was extended from three to
nine weeks. In contrast to the erosion of parliamentary power, the government’s
functions were strengthened and expanded, particularly in the realm of publicity.Thus,
the most important public statements regarding the nation’s fate were issued not by
Parliament but by the prime minister’s office or the governing party’s headquarters.

The prime minister’s cabinet played a vital role in coordinating the work of ministries
and in preparing the decisions of the prime minister, who exploited to the full the
possibilities offered to him by Hungary’s chancellery type of government (Nagyhazi,
2003). The post of Minister of the Chancellery was given to the director of the think-
tank that had prepared the government’s programme and which trained future
politicians. 22 political and communication advisors worked in the prime minister’s
cabinet, with 80 more serving in the various ministries. Much more important, however,
was the prime minister’s informal advisory network. Comprising members of the
‘independent intelligentsia’, the nucleus of this group was the founders of the Young
Democrats.

The prime minister’s personal PR and communication advisor, András Wermer, played a
central role in defining and realising the government’s rhetorical strategies. A large
apparatus within the cabinet carried out pragmatic tasks of governmental
communication on a day-to-day basis. The organising principle of the government’s
communication strategy – as if taken directly from a communication handbook – was
the articulation of a limited number of clear, simple messages. These messages were
selected with great care, and their pronouncement was highly unified and coordinated.
As in an advertising campaign, they were repeated as many times as possible. The
communication strategy was an integral part of the government’s work schedule,
influencing concrete decisions, their timing and their contexts. The central aim was to
constantly bombard citizens with positive messages to assure them that the
government was working on their behalf at all times.

One of the most striking characteristics of the government was its capacity to create Political Transition and the Professionalisation of Political Communication
events of news value and to package its information in such a way that it was attractive
even for commercial media. Different methods were used for achieving these aims,
such as organising governmental meetings in visually pleasing environments. The
Young Democrats had the good fortune to be in office when the nation celebrated its
millennial anniversary in 2000.This occasion provided vivid and dramatic opportunities
for the government to celebrate its continuity with ‘historical’Hungary.

In addition to using public relations techniques and creating pseudo-events, the prime
minister used opportunities provided by the so-called public service broadcasting.
Hungarian Radio and Television had now been purged of the ‘hidden network’ of
socialist-liberal journalists and other employees, and the prime minister was ready to
accept the invitation from the news director of Hungarian Radio to participate weekly 173