Lawmakers decided on Monday that parliament should decide about incorporating domestic violence into the country’s new Penal Code as a separate offence, a demand signed by 105,000 people in a recent initiative.
The initiative was supported by 366 deputies in favour, none against, with ten deputies of the co-ruling Christian Democrats, including party leader and deputy PM Zsolt Semjen, abstaining.
Parliament started a debate on the initiative last Monday. Lawmakers of the ruling Fidesz and Christian Democrats said that current legislation and the new criminal code would provide an appropriate legal framework, while opposition parties opposed the view.
Istvan Varga, a Fidesz politician, sparked outrage among the opposition parties, civil groups and female lawmakers of Fidesz with comments suggesting that violence was commensurate with the size of a family.
On Friday, Antal Rogan, the group leader of Fidesz announced that based on talks he and Prime Minister Viktor Orban held with the party’s women deputies, Fidesz changed its position and supported the initiative.
Zoltan Balog, the human resources minister, said on Saturday after meeting the civil group that launched the initiative, women lawmakers of Fidesz and of the opposition LMP, that the government would submit a relevant motion to parliament already this year.






