The drafting of Hungary’s new constitution is likely to be completed by March 15 next year, Fidesz MEP Gyorgy Schopflin, said in an interview with Monday’s Magyar Hirlap daily.
The new constitution proposed by the ruling centre-right Fidesz party will contain new elements which are both symbolic and substantive, said the politician, who sits on the board responsible for drawing up the new document.
Schopflin said that people in the party wanted the text will begin by quoting the first line of the Hungarian National Anthem and for the document’s preamble to feature the significance of the Holy Crown.
As far as the constitution’s political content is concerned, Schopflin said that the constructive vote of no confidence provision in the current constitution should be scrapped and the scope for initiating referendums narrowed. Parliament’s monitoring role should be enhanced, he added.
Schopflin, a former London-based academic, said that if plans are acted on to reduce the number of parliamentary deputies then it would not be necessary to supplement lawmaking with a second chamber.
He said that he would like voters to have a greater say in the drafting of legislation.
