Viktor Orbán’s Hungarian power grab

2013. március 14. 14:42

Viktor Orbán triggered alarm bells around Europe in 2011 when he used a two-thirds majority in parliament to push through a series of measures that concentrated political power.

2013. március 14. 14:42
Editorial

"Now Mr. Orbán, a right-wing populist, has attracted more red flags. He recently appointed a close aide as head of the central bank, one of the few remaining independent institutions, triggering a run on the Hungarian currency. Then on Monday the parliament passed extensive new amendments to the constitution Mr. Orbán introduced only a year ago, ignoring explicit warnings from E.U. leaders. The State Department said the revisions 'could threaten the principles of institutional independence and checks and balances that are the hallmark of democratic governance.' In Europe there have been calls for Hungary to be stripped of its E.U. voting rights or deprived of some of the $600 billion in funding it was awarded in the union’s new seven-year budget.


Mr. Orbán’s spokesmen insist this is all a misunderstanding. Parliament, they say, merely re-ratified provisions of the new charter that the constitutional court struck down on technical grounds. Changes in a new judicial regime and in a media supervisory organ made to satisfy the European Union remain in place, they say, while the authority of the constitutional court has been slightly broadened — the opposite of the interpretation of domestic and foreign critics. (...)

Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi has sought to soothe E.U. governments by promising to have the new provisions reviewed by the Council of Europe, a multilateral organization that promotes human rights and democracy. But Mr. Orbán has been defiant, declaring that 'the countries of central and eastern Europe should make their own policies without looking to the E.U.' and that 'we do not have to listen to everything the bureaucrats in Brussels say.'"

Összesen 2 komment

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Sorrend:
kulalak
2015. november 10. 01:04
"many of the new constitutional provisions remain objectionable. Marriage is defined as the “conjugal union of a man and a woman;” (wow!) churches allowed public funding must “collaborate with the state for the public interest.” (not for the tax exemption?) Political advertising during election campaigns is restricted to public media (pricing?), while “free speech cannot be aimed at violating the dignity of the Hungarian nation.”(guys, ANY nation would be pissed) Students who receive scholarships to state universities (=free) are required by the constitution to work for Hungarian firms (not really, only 'work' in Hungary), and local jurisdictions are given authority to “outlaw the use of certain public space for habitation,” a measure widely seen as aimed at Hungary’s Roma minority (not really, more aimed at the homeless). The former Communist Party is constitutionally defined as a criminal organization (duh!), a step that critics say could expose some opposition leaders to prosecution ('early retirement from public service' maybe:) on political grounds (no shit, man, really? maybe it's time to do that)." Also from The Washington Post: "For the previous eight years (2002-2010), the country had been run by one of the most incompetent governments in Europe. Hungary's Socialists ran up debt, evaded reforms and squirreled away money in foreign bank accounts. At one point (2006), the former Socialist prime minister declared that he knew he had "lied" to the voters, and that only "divine providence, the abundance of cash in the world economy and hundreds of tricks" had kept the country afloat during his years in office. After a tape of that speech became public, there were riots in Budapest. In April (2010), Hungary's voters threw him out."
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