Jobbik executive vice president Gyöngyösi: Slavery act is unconstitutional and was passed b breaking the parliament’s house rules

Hungary’s opposition parties held a joint press conference and condemned the pro-government majority for passing the slavery act in Parliament.

Calling the events taking place in the Parliament scandalous, Jobbik’s faction leader and executive vice president harshly criticized the way how the pro-government majority handled the voting process. He noted that Deputy Speaker János Latorcai conducted the session from his party’s row of seats (the Speaker’s platform was occupied by opposition MPs) and the voting machines functioned even without the MPs’ cards inserted in them.

Jobbik’s politician said the vote “was unprecedented in the history of Hungarian politics” which, in his view, is a clear indication that “Fidesz has no respect for any laws, even the ones they adopted themselves”.

Mr Gyöngyösi called Wednesday’s vote unconstitutional and said it was against the Parliament’s house rules, too. Jobbik’s faction leader emphasized that the government’s job was to finally side with Hungarian workers but it made strategic agreements at the expense of employees instead. In the meantime, there’s an unprecedented labour shortage in Hungary: hundreds of thousands of young people emigrate abroad. He stated his party was going to continue protesting against the authoritarian measures.

Socialist party president and faction leader Bertalan Tóth said that Wednesday’s vote was completely unlawful. As he put it, the government may either have made an astoundingly shady deal with the Western big business to pass this law or “maybe the government considers workers as the enemy.” He added:

“We won’t give up, we’ll keep fighting but we’ll need the Hungarian workers and the trade unions in this struggle.”

Tímea Szabó (Dialogue) also pointed out the shocking abuse of the voting process as MPs were allowed to vote without inserting their cards. She said if this was tolerated, you could never verify who actually pushed the button. She also warned that the quorum of the meeting was not established before each vote. Talking about the legislation, she said the government betrayed the families by adopting it. She promised to use all legal measures to get the act withdrawn.

Democratic Coalition’s Ágnes Vadai said Fidesz MPs had proved to be puppets. She revealed that she had talked with President of the Republic János Áder and promised him that the opposition would listen silently if the head of the state made a speech. “János Áder copped out,” she added. In her view, there will be consequences for the fact that the staff of the Counter-Terrorism Centre somehow entered the Parliament.

Politics Can Be Different (LMP) co-president László Lóránt Keresztes said the day’s events were something other than legislation. The slavery act amounts to a betrayal of the people and it is the result of a disgraceful economic policy, he noted. On the other hand, he emphasized that this was just the beginning of the resistance.

“However, it’s time for the trade unions to show an example from now on,” he concluded.

Photo: MTI

Source: Jobbik – press release