#2019PresidentialElection/Kelemen Hunor says those who have fled presidential debates undermined democracy

National leader of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) Kelemen Hunor, UDMR's presidential hopeful, said in Sfantu Gheorghe on Tuesday that the absence of debates among the presidential candidates was the biggest deficiency of the electoral campaign, and, in his opinion, the candidates who "fled" the debates "undermine" the idea of democracy and contribute to the loss of credibility of the political class.

"In this campaign, if something was missing then surely it was the lack of debate among the candidates. I have never seen such a presidential campaign, with candidates running away from debates. They have no programme, no courage, they are afraid of something, I don't know, or they are arrogant, or both. So, there is a principle in any democracy: debate your project, provide arguments, strike up a dialogue with the other. Those who did not accept the debate, those who said,from the outset, that they would not show up and asked not be scheduled, included in any debate as they would not come or those who changed their minds in the meanwhile and fled debates undermine the idea of democracy. It is not a good thing when you do not want to come before people and show that you have arguments, a vision, a project for the country you want to lead. So, I hope there will never be such an election campaign again, because it's not fair and, in the end, it leads to the loss of credibility in the political class. That credibility that has been preserved should be strengthened, not destroyed," Kelemen told a news conference.