Getting rid of the president of the Republic, removing the head of the Constitutional Court, banning nearly half of opposition MPs from standing at elections ever again, giving near-unlimited powers to the so called National Asset Recovery and Protection Authority (NVVH) – only some of the unprecedented features of the TISZA government’s 17th amendment to the Constitution forced through Parliament today.
Péter Magyar addressed Parliament on Monday in which he informed that the National Assembly would adopt the 17th amendment to the Fundamental Law Today. At the beginning of his speech he went on to attack President Tamás Sulyok, accusing him of choosing Viktor Orbán’s FIDESZ over serving his country. President Sulyok has, in a statement, rejected these allegations calling them “unconstitutional and undignified”.
He continued by criticizing the Orbán government at length and spoke about restoring the rule-of-law, as well as recovering allegedly unlawfully acquired assets, summarized his speech Magyar Nemzet.
Magyar warned that the President has no right to review the substance of the amendment to the Fundamental Law proposed by TISZA, instead, he must sign it within five days. He then called on Tamás Sulyok “not to play games with the rule-of-law in Hungary”. He also noted that if the head of state does not sign the legislation within five days, impeachment proceedings could be initiated against him. In that case, TISZA’s Speaker of the House could sign the amendment to the Fundamental Law in place of the President. In his speech, Péter Magyar also addressed conservative FIDESZ voters, saying that they did not have to like the TISZA government or agree with it as the amendment is “also for their benefit”.
This came only a day after he posted a video of himself bathing in Turkiye on his summer holidays, a post that rather aptly described Magyar’s state of mind and lack of care or empathy only a day before rewriting Hungary’s constitutional system. Instead of showing a certain decorum, he merely declared that he wanted to rub these images into, what he called, “propagandists” face.
According to the opposition Our Homeland Movement (Mi Hazánk), the TISZA government is dismantling what remains of the rule of law. Their President, László Toroczkai warned that the prime minister had failed to address precisely those issues that concern the Hungarian people: whether there will be a rule-of-law, whether there will be democracy, and whether corruption and political crime can be eradicated.
“They are not restoring the rule-of-law; rather, they are dismantling what little remains of it. They are not bringing back democracy; instead, they are doing exactly what Fidesz did, only with a twist,”
he declared.
László Toroczkai also asked whether the Asset Recovery Office would investigate the contracts of the former Student Loan Center, that were drafted by Péter Magyar, and are now part of a criminal investigation.
What does the 17th amendment to the Fundamental Law entail?
A limit on the length of terms for members of the National Assembly: their terms of office are set at a maximum of 12 years (or three terms);
The termination of the current President of the Republic’s term of office;
A more independent Constitutional Court; introduction of a 70-year age limit;
Stronger judicial self-governance; the ability for judges to initiate the recall of the presidents of the Supreme Court and the National Judicial Office;
Establishment of a National Office for Asset Recovery and Asset Protection;
Fewer cardinal laws;
Restoration of the Constitutional Court’s powers;
Abolition of the Budget Council’s veto power;
Strengthening the protection of public funds;
Reviewing the constitutional provisions governing independent regulatory agencies;
Abolishing the independent Parliamentary Guard and establishing a unified law enforcement administration.
While voting was taking place, the main opposition parties, FIDESZ and KDNP have left the chamber of the National Assembly in protest. On the Parliament’s corridor they held a press conference, in which Gergely Gulyás has resigned from his position as leader of FIDESZ’s parliamentary fraction. He also informed that
“The ruling majority is preparing to adopt an amendment to the Fundamental Law that, taken individually, constitutes a gross overstep, but taken together is unprecedented.”
The faction leader objected to the removal of the President of the Republic, the dismantling of the Constitutional Court, the creation of a separate special prosecutor’s office, and the restriction of voting rights. “From now on, there is a political contest in Hungary in which half of each opposition party faction is excluded from democratic political competition,” Gulyás said, referring to the 12-year term limit for members of parliament. Gulyás expressed his hope that the current TISZA government period would remain a bad memory and that democracy would be strong enough to survive those who oppose democratic achievements. Gulyás noted that the government had never attempted such measures, and he emphasized that the FIDESZ–KDNP (Christian Democratic Civic Party) parliamentary group would continue to protest against them in the future.
Bence Rétvári, the KDNP parliamentary group leader, said that they would not be extras in Péter Magyar’s “absolute theater,” and therefore would not participate in the parliamentary session. He called it unprecedented that a president could be stripped of his office through a one-sentence amendment to the Fundamental Law. Regarding the National Office for the Recovery and Protection of State Assets (NVVH)—which he called a new ÁVH (reference to the Hungarian equivalent of East Germany’s STASI) —he noted that it allows interference in anyone’s life.
This is a tactic to instill fear in both politicians and ordinary people
— Rétvári emphasized, calling today a day of mourning.
After the press conference, Gergely Gulyás wrote on his social media page that from now on, it is not the voters but those in power who decide who people can vote for. He recalled that over the past 16 years, FIDESZ had been accused of dismantling democracy and the rule-of-law, but they had never attempted anything like this. In his view, this amendment does not merely undermine the democratic rule-of-law, but marks its end. He does not wish to be complicit in this, which is why he resigned from his position as parliamentary group leader.
We cannot pretend that Hungary will remain a democratic state governed by the rule-of-law even after the amendment to the Fundamental Law takes effect. Today they are targeting us, but tomorrow it could be anyone’s turn. May God protect Hungary!
—wrote Gergely Gulyás.
Gergely Gulyás (R) during his joint press conference with Bence Rétvári (L). MTI/Hegedüs Róbert
As far as public support is concerned, the majority of Hungarians still support the constitutional amendment. If polls are to be believed, the more repressive the TISZA government becomes, the wider their support seems to grow among ordinary Hungarians. Albeit some political human rights NGOs have raised slight concerns regarding the TISZA government’s actions since the election, the leadership of the European Union seems to reward Péter Magyar for his efforts to dismantle not only the constructs of the previous Orbán government, but the entire Hungarian conservative sphere. Indeed, leader of the largest faction in the European Parliament, EPP President Manfred Weber, has even remarked only a few days earlier that he has full confidence in his protégé, Péter Magyar. In other words, those on the receiving end of Magyar’s unprecedented punitive crusade are left with very little recourse in case they think that they were wronged and wish to appeal for remedy.
However, some fifty conservative Members of the European Parliament have submitted an urgent question to the European Commission regarding the Péter Magyar government’s overt constitutional coup, due to the Commission’s silence on the matter. In their view,
the amendments to the Fundamental Law proposed by the Péter Magyar government violate the most fundamental democratic and constitutional principles in a manner unprecedented in Europe. The amendments represent blatant abuse of power, a restriction of democratic suffrage, the marginalization of political opponents, and an attempt to exercise power exclusively.
As they wrote in a statement sent to Hungary Today, “in a move unprecedented in Europe, the amendments would, with immediate effect and through ad hominem legislation, remove the lawfully elected President of the Republic from office years before the end of his term. The proposal also restricts citizens’ right to vote by prohibiting anyone who has previously held a seat in the National Assembly for at least twelve years from running in National Assembly elections… The European Commission has closely monitored the Hungarian government’s actions for more than a decade. Why is the Commission remaining silent now, when a government is openly violating European constitutional principles? Does the Commission not consider these changes to be contrary to fundamental democratic principles?” – wrote the conservative MEPs.
Via Magyar Nemzet; Featured Image: Fortepan / Vészi Ágnes