In addition to his daughter and wife, the world champion canoeist accused of fraud is launching an ex-fidesz representative in Szeged

Márton Joób presented the female representative candidates of the Szögedi Citizens’ Association in front of the former Centrum Áruház on Tuesday. Kenus, a three-time world champion who previously belonged to László Botka’s faction, is also running for mayor, now against Botka, as an independent. His team is strengthened by eight women, including an ex-fidesz local vice-president, as well as his wife and one of his daughters.

By the way, Márton Joób also has an ongoing court case: he and his colleagues are accused of having created a criminal organization operating in four counties in order to keep his company involved in publishing newscasts and distributing flyers on the market. The prosecutor’s office asked for a nine-year prison sentence for Márton Joób, the first-rate defendant, and the representative still insists on his innocence.

Kata Chovanecz – who became one of the vice-presidents of Fidesz in Szeged last September, after the resignation of local president Csaba Bartók – also appeared at Tuesday’s presentation, who, as it turned out, is running again in Felsőváros with Joób’s association. Already in February, the town hall press learned that the governing parties would not give a vote of confidence to Chovanecz, and his name did not even appear on the Fidesz-KDNP list.

Recently, Chovanecz mainly deals with the affairs of the city real estate manager, IKV Zrt. He would continue to deal with this topic even if elected, it was said on the spot. The representative previously criticized many city investments, and there was a memorable moment when he drew attention to poor drainage while standing in a puddle with his bare feet. We tried to reach the representative by phone and email regarding his break with Fidesz, but so far we have not been able to reach him.

Szeged.hu asked Chovanecz at the press conference on the spot, who did not want to answer the question whether he had been expelled or left the party, but he said that he was no longer a member of Fidesz, so the position of vice-president was not his. According to his own admission, he will be fully present at the election as a civilian. He accepted Márton Joób’s invitation because “the people of Szeged are very important to him” and because he could join a civil initiative free of party politics.

Joób also announced the candidacy of his wife, Dóra Joób, and one of his daughters, Gréta Kálló-Joób, on Tuesday. Joób presented his wife, who also works as a religious teacher, as the mother of eleven children, who obtained three degrees and, because she lives locally, knows her area. He justified his university daughter’s departure by saying that they should “open up to young people as well”.

The world champion canoeist claims that there is little talk about women in politics, “and I think it is important to give them more space in public life, because they see many things better than us men”. In addition, he feels that “there is a need for a force that is not organized on the basis of party politics, but as a civil association independent of parties.” According to him, their team therefore includes both left-wing and right-wing candidates.

By the way, the Joóbés also recently launched a new news portal with the Szögedi Citizens’ Association, which is also their website. Szegedi Hírek advertises itself as independent, but it reviews the news of delmagyar.hu, which is close to the government, and Márton Joób’s ads appeared among the very first posts. Candidates are also recruited on the site by the NGO, whose president is Csaba Bakai (on the right in the photo above), who received a legally suspended prison sentence as a municipal representative at the turn of the millennium, because he caused permanent disability to his own wife.

The author is a Szeged journalist. The article is also published in Telex as part of the cooperation between Szegeder and Telex.