Work Of National Assembly Must Be Made More Substantial, says Re-Elected House Speaker

Budapest, May 7 (MTI) – The work of Hungary’s new parliament must be made more meaningful during its next four-year cycle, Laszlo Kover, who was re-elected house speaker at parliament’s founding session on Tuesday, told public television in the evening.

Kover said he hoped that the new “strong, large and politically significant” legislative committee would serve as a forum for meaningful debates.

The parliament adopted at its founding session a new committee structure under which a legislative committee, an immunity committee and a business promotion committee have been set up.

In the new structure, proposals will be discussed in the respective committees and then forwarded to the legislative committee, to be headed by Fidesz lawmaker Gergely Gulyas, which will finalise the drafts and submit them to the assembly to vote on.

Kover said the new house rules would allow more time for the deputies to get familiar with a bill before it is debated for the first time. Parliament’s work will be slower paced but “hopefully more considered,” he added.

He noted that a law amendment would be tabled within the next few days to ensure that MPs only get paid for their work in parliament, even if they also have a position in a local council. From the autumn, when local elections are held, lawmakers will be barred from concurrently holding other positions such as mayor.

Commenting on the act of the leftist Democratic Coalition lawmakers supplementing their oath of office at parliament’s founding session, Kover said “the text added by Ferenc Gyurcsany and his team cannot be taken seriously,” adding that “it is a cheap joke”.

The lawmakers of DK said “I undertake to do everything to establish a new republic. I will use all my strength to ensure that the Hungarian Republic has a new constitution via a referendum.”

Photo: MTI

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