Hungarian Parliament Approved New Constitution

Constitution of the Hungarian Nation (cotidianul.ro)

Hungarian lawmakers from the majority in power have approved on Monday the new constitution of the country, meant, according to governmental sources, to conclude the 20-year transition from Communism to democracy, to put the country on the right economic track, and make sure scandals like those that have occurred recently do not come to pass anymore.

Even though opposition has boycotted the vote, the spokespersons for Viktor Orban’s cabinet proudly affirm that the constitution that passed on Monday will make every Hungarian citizen proud of it.

Viktor Orban’s Fidesz won majority in April 2010 in a move that the PM labeled as “revolution in the vote booth,” and since then the majority has pushed the legislative process.

Viktor Orban (evz.ro)

The Socialists and the Green party refused to participate in the drafting of the new constitution, while Jobbik, the far-right party which also obtained a spectacular result during the “revolution in the vote booth,” refused to vote after their proposals were left out by government.

The provision that aims at reducing state deficit under 50 percent (from above 80% now) was praised by the financial markets, while the weakening of the power ascribed to Constitutional Court and to the head of National Bank of Hungary was criticized.

The protection by the law of the fetus rights since the moment of conception is seen as opening up possibilities for a future ban of abortion.

The provision of lifetime in prison without parole for brutal crimes or those regarding sex discrimination also came under criticism.

A leader of the opposition said that Orban drafted a constitution for himself and the party he rules.

The hardest criticism has been drawn by the references to the cohesion of the “Hungarian nation,” since it specifies some rights for Hungarians living in neighboring countries like Romania, Slovakia or Serbia.

The provisions about the Christian roots of the Hungarian nation and references to God also seem to have been considered to conservative and incompatible to the European trend.

Germany has already warned that the new Constitution was incompatible to the values shared by the European Union. Non-governmental organizations also criticizes the fact that the constitution will not be submitted to public debate, nor to referendum.

The new constitution will be signed in a solemn setting by the President of Hungary next Monday.11