December 20th, 2011

Fidesz MPs submit proposal to limit debate in Parliament; critics claim measure further attack on democratic norms

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Nine Fidesz MPs submitted a proposal to Parliament that would allow motions put forward by individual MPs to be discussed and voted on in only two days, hvg.hu reports.

Accelerated legislation on these types of motions has required a four-fifth backing of the MPs, which the proposal would lower to two-third.

The proposal also seeks to allow the Parliament to make last-minute amendments to bills without any limitations and with no time allocated to discuss them.

At present, bills can only be modified right before final voting if their content is in contravention with the constitution, other existing laws or the bill itself.

The moves, which its the proponents claim would make legislation “simpler and clearer,” is viewed by some critics as a clear attempt to limit Parliament’s democratic powers.

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  • Pete H.

    Accelerated legislation that would only require the support of the ruling party and with unlimited amendments.

    And that folks is the final nail in the coffin of democracy in Hungary.

  • Viking

    Hungary has, since Fidesz took power, had an enormous amount of laws introduced through Member’s Bill and expedite process, sidestepping normal accepted procedure

    The result has been that many laws has had to be amended and changed fast, which has led to confusion and cost for the people involved and worsened reputation abroad

    The favourite example is:
    * Which other Parliament get a motion (from LMP) to limit the Government’s right to modify the tax law to only 2 times per year?

    Many countries hardly change it even one time per year, in Hungary there have been new things every month, that affect mostly companies
    This constant changing, or even \ambush-style\, ‘law-making’ is exactly what makes foreign companies, who are the ones who may have a choice, to seriously doubt if Hungary can be any reliable partner in the future

    In a normal democracy Government proposes a law, it is being discussed in committees and with external partners, sometime for years. The judiciary gets involved and have a chance to influence so any new law will be workable
    In the end, broad consensus and the law gets adopted and introduced with a good feeling in society. It belongs there

    But not in Hungary and worse will it be now, when Fidesz decided they will not want to be dependent on \Jobbik\ to squeeze something through very fast, with out any proper checks and balances

    Hungary is hardly facing a war or troubles at its borders, but the legislation is being prepared like it was

  • Curious George

    This is beginning to look more like my country, although we still have a few things to be positive about – warmer weather, less pollution and good food, along with a few less important things like low unemployment, budget surpluses, and reasonable growth.
    I’m not sure Parliament can legislate any of those, accelerated or otherwise.

  • Sal

    Guess it is time to go home then?

  • Curious George

    What? And miss the fire-sale next year?

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