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Fidesz claims European democracy is backsliding, citing France and Poland
The head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee said in Strasbourg on Monday that the political use of criminal law is the greatest danger to European democracies and the rule of law, as the cases of Poland and France have shown.
Zsolt Németh (Fidesz) said in a statement on the first day of the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) that democracy was backsliding in Europe, but not “in Budapest or Belgrade but in France and Poland”.
Németh, who also heads the European Conservatives, Patriots and Affiliates (ECPA) in PACE, said that the legal basis of the sentence handed down to Marine Le Pen was “difficult to interpret”. “The most stunning thing is … that [she] doesn’t even have the right to appeal,” he added.
Similar court decisions were handed down in Poland, too, Németh said, “where justice is used as a political weapon against the former prime minister and his deputy.”
“I think democracy means that we are supposed to win at the ballot box rather than annihilate our rivals [using invalid] court decisions. It is time to tackle the real challenges before European democracies rather than quietly assisting certain countries in eliminating the rule of law,” he said.
Noting that CoE Secretary General Alain Berset has initiated the drafting of a New Pact for Democracy, Németh said “there is a bigger need than ever to stand up for democracy.”
“I trust that the Secretary General’s initiative will take the challenges posed by the backsliding of democracy seriously and desist from the following the regrettable trend we see everywhere in Europe of talking about anything but the crux of the matter,” Németh said.
It is interesting that Orbán’s party has never called the leaders of partner organisations guilty, no matter what the charges. Allies are always innocent, and more than once they engage in political conflict to save the allied politician. This is what we wrote today:
Trump administration strongly opposed, yet PM Orbán risked escalation in Balkans because of Dodik?
Zsolt Németh’s speech is also interesting because at the moment it is Fidesz and the Hungarian government that are criticised by many for tightening the law on gatherings, which means that Budapest Pride, for example, cannot take place, but the authorities have the right to ban other events as well, with a flexible child protection rule. However, this attitude is a very bad omen for Hungarian public life, because if another government comes to power, then values that are important to Fidesz can be banned. Demonstrations are held every week in Budapest to protest against the curtailment of the right of assembly:
Another right of assembly protest in Hungary, shouting “Fascist Orbán, get out!” – details and VIDEO
Mrs. Le Pen was convicted of “embezzlement of public funds” and “complicity in the embezzlement of public funds”. And this conviction was based on facts – well beyond a reasonable doubt. Guilty as charged. So much for “Rule of Law!”, “Criminals must be punished!”.
According to our Politicians, it is OK for her and her clique to embezzle public funds. It is actually up to the voter to decide whether this is actually “bad” and if they want people in charge of public funds who have a proven track record of criminally rerouting such funds.
However, in some countries, having a criminal record prevents a person from being eligible for public office, and committing a serious criminal offense while a public servant can result in removal from office. In other states, specific disqualifications to stand for elections arise from corruption or failure to comply with electoral laws. In a third group of countries, the law has set out only “positive” eligibility criteria to be met by candidates. It is left to the voter to judge whether to elect a candidate who has a criminal record – obviously, our Politicians would all opt for Group 3!
In France, the following groups of people are ineligible to stand for office (Group of States against Corruption. 2014a):
Any person sentenced to imprisonment by a criminal court, which, in addition to the handing
down a custodial sentence, determines on a case by case basis whether the offender should also be deprived of their political rights for a fixed period.
Disenfranchisement is therefore not automatic upon imprisonment, but rather applied as an
additional penalty by the court. Under Article 13126 of the French penal code, offenders sentenced to imprisonment for felonies may be disenfranchised for up ten years, while those
serving a custodial sentence for misdemeanours may be disenfranchised for up to five years (Legifrance 2016a).
Until 2011, when Article 130 of the Electoral Code was amended (Legifrance 2016b), individuals whose conviction included a provision depriving them of the right to be on an electoral roll for a certain period were also deprived of the right to run for the French National Assembly for double that length of time. This is no longer the case.
Any person who has contravened the regulations governing the financing of elections. Those found to have violated Articles 118-3 and 118-4 of the Electoral Code by exceeding the limit on electoral expenses, not filing their campaign accounts or submitting fraudulent campaign finance reports may be declared ineligible to stand for election by the Constitutional Council or an administrative court for a period of up to three years under Article 128 of the Electoral Code (Legifrance 2016c & 2016d). Articles 118-3 and 118-4, however, are not retrospective in that they have no effect on mandates acquired prior to the date of the decision and therefore cannot be used to remove public officials from office (Legifrance 2016e).
Members of the National Assembly who have failed to submit a declaration of assets in the appropriate form and within the deadline. Since the formation of la Haute Autorité pour la transparence de la vie publique in 2013, deputies of the National Assembly are required to file asset declarations to this body under Article 135-1 of the Electoral Code (Legifrance 2016f). Any deputy failing to do so can be compelled to resign by the Constitutional Council under Article 136-2 (Legifrance 2016g) of the Electoral Code and is then ineligible for election for a period of one year under Article 128 (Legifrance 2016d).
Where deputies fail to declare a substantial part of their assets or interests, or provide a false valuation of their assets, they are subject to the removal of their civic rights under Article 131-26 and banned from holding public office under Article 131-27 of the French Penal Code, in addition to facing up to three years’ imprisonment and a €45,000 fine (Legifrance 2016f). A March 2016 amendment to the Electoral Code (LO135-2) makes asset and income declarations available to the public on request (Legifrance 2016h).
Until 2010, under Article 7 of the Electoral Code any person convicted of offenses against the public administration (accepting bribes, illegal promotion of interests, embezzlement, or misappropriation under Articles 432-10 to 432-16 and 433 of the Criminal Code) was considered ineligible for a period of five years from the date of the conviction. In 2010, however, the Constitutional Council struck down Article 7 as unconstitutional (Legifrance 2016i).