Hungary’s new Tisza Party government has submitted a constitutional amendment that would impose an eight-year limit on any prime minister’s tenure \u2014 a measure that, applied retroactively as promised, would permanently disqualify former Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n from ever returning to office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tisza lawmakers submitted the amendment Wednesday. Prime Minister P\u00e9ter Magyar had repeatedly promised during the election campaign to impose a two-term limit and apply it retroactively. The opposition Christian Democratic People’s Party’s parliamentary group leader, Bence R\u00e9tv\u00e1ri, argued that “a government confident in its own performance would not need constitutional manoeuvres to sideline a political rival.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proposed amendment would also abolish the constitutional foundation of the Sovereignty Protection Office \u2014 an institution established under Orb\u00e1n to investigate foreign influence and defend Hungary’s constitutional identity and Christian culture. Fidesz parliamentary leader Gergely Guly\u00e1s said the amendment amounted to “the dismantling of Hungary’s strict migration policy,” warning that scrapping the relevant constitutional clauses could pave the way for Hungary’s acceptance of the EU migration pact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Guly\u00e1s also attacked the government’s decision to allow restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural imports to lapse, accusing Tisza of “governing through Facebook.” Farmers’ organizations warn that low-cost Ukrainian grain, poultry, and eggs could devastate domestic producers already struggling with rising costs and strict EU regulations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The broader package of measures is widely seen as an effort to appease the European Commission in the hope of unlocking EU funds frozen during Orb\u00e1n’s tenure, when Budapest repeatedly clashed with Brussels over sovereignty, migration, Ukraine, and LGBT issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using a constitutional amendment to retroactively disqualify a political opponent is not democratic reform \u2014 it is the weaponization of constitutional law for political purposes. It is precisely what the Tusk government in Poland has been doing to its conservative opponents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hungary’s new Tisza Party government has submitted a constitutional amendment that would impose an eight-year limit on any prime minister’s tenure \u2014 a measure that, applied retroactively as promised, would permanently disqualify former Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n from ever returning to office. Tisza lawmakers submitted the amendment Wednesday. Prime Minister P\u00e9ter Magyar had repeatedly promised […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":125211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[512],"tags":[21085,12801],"class_list":["post-276600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-hungary-5","tag-orban-5"],"yoast_head":"\n