Parliament session on election law amendment abandoned – UPDATE

Budapest, August 22 (MTI) – A special session of Hungary’s parliament initiated by the Jobbik party aimed at amending the election law was abandoned for lack of a quorum on Monday.

Jobbik proposed amending the election law with a view to making it easier for Hungarians working or studying abroad to vote in the upcoming national referendum on EU migrant quotas on Oct 2.

Hungarians who have a permanent address in the country but are abroad on the day of an election or referendum can vote at a Hungarian embassy or consular office, while ethnic Hungarians living beyond the border can vote by mail.

Jobbik said these rules were unfair, arguing that many Hungarians working in western Europe “have to travel hundreds of kilometres” to exercise their voting rights at a representative office.

The opposition Socialist and LMP parties supported Jobbik’s initiative to hold a special parliamentary session, whereas the ruling Fidesz party and their Christian Democrat ally signalled they would not attend.

Fidesz last week rejected the proposal to amend the election law, saying that the current one is “coherent and has stood scrutiny by international organisations such as the European Court of Human Rights and the Venice Commission”. Group leader Lajos Kósa said the opposition parties were using the amendment proposal to thwart the upcoming referendum.

UPDATE

Opposition LMP’s Bernadett Szél said lawmakers of the ruling parties have failed to meet their obligation to represent all Hungarians including residents in other countries. She went on to say that the referendum was a mere “trick” for the government or else they would make sure that “the votes of all Hungarian citizens are equal”.