The fifth anniversary of Hungary’s new constitution – House speaker: Hungary constitution fulfils purpose

Budapest, April 25 (MTI) – Five years after Hungary’s new constitution was passed, it can be declared that the Fundamental Law “fulfils its purpose in every respect”, House Speaker László Kövér said on Monday in Parliament at a celebration of the document’s fifth anniversary.

Kövér noted that Hungary held a democratic general election, swore in a new government and elected new mayors in its municipalities and counties under the new constitution. The constitution has strengthened the institutional system governed by the rule of law, he insisted.

The disputes surrounding the document’s content reflect “the struggle between the national and globalist paradigms,” Kövér said, adding that the constitution’s message and impact apply beyond Hungary’s borders.

Kövér said neither Hungary’s 1919 constitution passed under the Hungarian Soviet Republic nor the 1949 constitution passed by the Hungarian Working People’s Party had any “democratic Hungarian legitimacy”.

He said the rewritten constitution passed in 1989 during the transition to democracy had been put together by the communist regime and its political opposition, neither of whom had any “democratic legitimacy” either.

With the 2011 Fundamental Law, Hungary became the last country in the central and eastern European region to pass a post-communist constitution.

He said the document’s foreign critics, like their domestic counterparts, all criticised the law from the perspective of “the globalist paradigm”.

Hungary’s future and national sovereignty depend on whether the government can grow the “democratic majority” backing the constitution, Kövér said.

Justice Minister László Trócsányi said the constitution formed a national identity and created cohesion “among the nation’s members and institutions”.

Gergely Gulyás, the head of parliament’s legislative committee, said the Fundamental Law was Hungary’s first written document that was adopted by a democratically elected parliament.

Fidesz MEP József Szájer said the constitution’s critics had been proven wrong, as the law has for years served Hungary and provided a firm foundation for its everyday operations.

Photo: MTI

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