A sudden blackout of Hungary’s main state TV channel, mass sackings of loyalist editors and an emergency legal overhaul reveal how fast Viktor Orbán’s propaganda and power network is being dismantled.
Szilárd Sánta
More than nine months ago, we launched our Hungary Votes series, in which we provided weekly summaries of the latest developments in Hungary’s election campaign. The series continues as we report on the developments following the historic election and the measures taken by the Tisza government. This week, we cover the following topics:
The 17th amendment to the Fundamental Law. Fidesz warns of authoritarian rule and organises a protest. Parliamentary life without the prime minister. Péter Magyar’s first Nato summit. The transformation of public media begins. Reining in the runaway budget.
On Saturday (4 July), the government submitted a proposal for the 17th amendment to the Fundamental Law to the National Assembly. Prime minister Péter Magyar said the provisions were intended to ensure that the Hungarian state could never again be captured by anyone.
The Fundamental Law will be amended to state that president Tamás Sulyok’s term in office is to end and that the new head of state “will be elected by the Hungarian National Assembly until the constitutional process is completed, but for no longer than five years, most likely still this summer”.
Among other provisions, the bill would introduce an upper age limit of 70 for Constitutional Court judges, bringing an end to the mandates of Péter Polt, president of the Constitutional Court, and three other constitutional judges. In addition, members of parliament would be allowed to serve for no more than 12 years, while the Hungarian administrative units currently called vármegyék would revert to their former name, megyék (counties). The amendment also provides for the establishment of the previously announced National Office for Asset Recovery and Protection.
Magyar introduced the constitutional amendment by saying that it would bring an era to a close. In the autumn, the government will open a new chapter and begin drafting a new Hungarian constitution — not a Fundamental Law.
Authoritarian rule
According to Gergely Gulyás, leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group, “the proposed constitutional amendment marks the end of constitutional democracy and the beginning of authoritarian rule in Hungary”. Gulyás said that this was the sixth time since the fall of communism that a government had held a two-thirds majority, but no one had ever gone so far as to attempt to remove either the president of the republic or the president of the Constitutional Court.
President Sulyok also commented on the proposed amendment to the Fundamental Law, saying that it was incompatible with the rule of law and that, in his view, the prime minister had failed to identify any constitutional grounds for removing him from office.
Even before Monday’s extraordinary session of the National Assembly, Gulyás announced that Fidesz would organise a protest on Thursday (9 July). The demonstration against the constitutional amendment will begin outside Sándor Palace at 6 p.m. Former president and former Fidesz politician János Áder will also address the protest.
The national assembly without Magyar
For once, Monday’s parliamentary session did not begin with a pre-agenda speech by Magyar. The prime minister had travelled to Turkey to attend the Nato summit. In his absence, deputy prime minister Bálint Ruff assumed his duties, while Dávid Vitézy, minister for transport and investment, addressed parliament.
Political analyst Gábor Török considered Vitézy’s speech significant because Magyar’s absence demonstrated that Tisza’s communication style and the dynamics of parliament could be different. When the prime minister is present, he dominates everything. The analyst described Magyar as a hammer that sees everything as a nail and strikes everywhere. In terms of substance, Vitézy addressed similar issues, including corruption, but his shorter, more focused speech was less confrontational.
