Jobbik to turn to Constitutional Court over planned sale of state land

Budapest, September 25 (MTI) – The radical nationalist Jobbik party said it will submit a complaint to the Constitutional Court over the government’s planned sale of state land.

Lawmaker Zoltan Magyar told a press conference on Friday that the party’s complaint would also be signed by the Socialist Party and the green opposition LMP.

Magyar said the government had decided on the sale of 380,000 hectares of state land without consulting agricultural organisations or farmers, and rejected holding a debate on the matter in parliament’s committees.

Magyar speculated that the reason behind the sales is that the government wants to help new tenant farmers who “had not fulfilled their contractual obligations” by allowing them to gain ownership of the land, which would not come with any obligations.

Responding to a question, Magyar said Jobbik would sign the Socialist Party’s initiative calling for a parliamentary debate on the matter.

Late last month, government office chief Janos Lazar said the government had asked farm minister Sandor Fazekas and the National Land Fund to put together a plan for the sale of approximately 300,000 to 380,000 hectares of state land.

Lazar said the government had set strict rules regarding the sale, such as prohibiting the sale of protected nature reserves and forests but allowing the sale of orchards, plough lands or grasslands. He said the lands could only be sold to local Hungarian farmers.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters