The government welcomed and leftist opposition parties slammed on Wednesday the constitutional amendments and the Stop Soros package of laws, which parliament passed earlier in the day.
The Stop Soros laws contain amendments to the penal code that sanction entities or organisations that “facilitate illegal migration” or help with the asylum application procedures of migrants arriving from safe countries, read more details HERE.
The amendments to the constitution prohibit the resettlement of foreign nationals in Hungary, create an administrative high court and ban homeless people from living in public spaces.
In a statement after the vote, the Government Information Office said that the measures “put the will of the Hungarian people into practice”, further strengthening the country’s protection against illegal migration.
“They were necessary because mass migration continues to threaten Europe, and the Soros network and Brussels’s pro-migration approach would flood Hungary with migrants,” the statement said.
Jobbik
– Press release –
Jobbik’s parliamentary faction voted for the constitutional amendment wrongly called Stop Soros. The reason why we supported this “mixed salad”-like legislative package is because we agree with the basic intention and social need for giving priority to Hungary’s security and protection. We also agree with the protection of Christianity and private property while we reject the migrant allocation quotas. Jobbik’s main goal is to eliminate all legal loopholes that keep the gates open for any form of immigration, so we once again submitted our bill to terminate the residency bonds but the governing parties turned it down for the eighth time today.
As far as the “Stop Soros” package is concerned, we can state that the legislation has lost its Soros character since, contrary to the earlier bill, it prescribes neither a national security clearance and registration of NGOs funded by George Soros, nor a restriction of their activities that are against Hungary’s interests.
As a responsible opposition party however, we are obliged to call the attention of the public to the fact that today’s adopted bill, contrary to the statements of the pro-government propaganda, will not stop illegal migration, it is not suitable to protect Christianity and nor does it overrule the Geneva Convention, just as homeless people will stay in public areas until their housing problems are resolved.
The bill also sets a framework for public administration courts, the actual regulation of which has not even begun.
Let us reassure the communities protesting against this bill that the legislation adopted today is impractical in its current form, its implementation is infeasible, so it will cause no harm. The government’s goal is not to actually solve the problems identified. What they want is to use the bill as a communication tool in the upcoming European Parliamentary elections and the Hungarian municipal elections.
Lefitst opposition
Socialist Party leader Bertalan Tóth said the constitutional amendment “has many facets”, but was “primarily an attack on the independence of the judiciary”.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Párbeszéd co-leader Gergely Karácsony, Tóth said
ruling Fidesz “wants to create a tame court of justice” where government officials can make decisions which are otherwise the prerogatives of judges.
Fidesz “has tried setting up administrative courts before”, but failed to garner a majority, he noted. The Socialists “are not going to assist to this propaganda move,” he said, adding that the parliamentary group decided to stay away from the vote.
Karácsony noted Wednesday’s was the seventh amendment of the basic law since its adoption in 2011. The constitution, “which Fidesz likes to call rock-solid, is more like candy floss,” he said.
Photo: MTI/AP/Francois Mori
Source: MTI
