Opposition parties lambast migrant quota referendum

Budapest, May 3 (MTI) – Hungary’s opposition parties slammed the government’s planned referendum on the European Union’s proposed mandatory migrant quota scheme after the supreme court approved the vote in a binding decision on Tuesday.

As we wrote, the Kúria rejected appeals submitted against the National Election Committee’s decision to pass the referendum question.

The radical nationalist Jobbik party said parliament should reject mandatory migrant quotas by amending the constitution instead of holding a referendum. Lawmaker Dániel Z Kárpát said rejecting migrant quotas in the constitution would cost far less than holding a referendum. He argued that the outcome of a referendum would be uncertain and a constitutional amendment would mean rejecting migrant quotas at the highest level of the law. He said Jobbik would provide the votes needed to ensure a two-thirds majority in parliament for the amendment.

DK called the referendum “anti-European” and said it was not actually about taking in refugees but rather about terminating Hungary’s European Union membership. Zsolt Gréczy, the party’s spokesman, told a press conference that the “deceptive” referendum aims to convince voters that there is “such a thing as a free lunch” and that Hungary can be a “freeloader” in the EU if it wants to be. Gréczy insisted that this was not an option. “Staying away [from the referendum] is a vote for Europe,” he said. Gréczy said it was “an embarrassment” that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who he said had once supported admitting “millions of migrants” for the sake of advancing growth, now wanted to use the matter of having to take in 1,000 migrants as an excuse to leave the EU.

Együtt said the Kúria’s decision to approve the referendum was unlawful. Party leader Viktor Szigetvári said in a statement that the court’s ruling was “shameful”. He said the prime minister was committing “a historic crime”, insisting that Orbán actually wanted to use the vote as a referendum against Europe. Szigetvári accused Orbán of doing the bidding of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Dialogue for Hungary Party said it acknowledged the Kúria’s decision but insisted that contrary to the top court’s assessment, the referendum concerns Hungary’s international obligations. MEP Benedek Javor said the Kuria’s interpretation of international commitments was too narrow, arguing that regulating migration was a split competency of both EU bodies and member states. Javor also argued that the term “resettlement” was not a legal one, meaning that the referendum question’s phrasing was also unclear.

The Liberal Party said it would turn to the Constitutional Court over the Kúria’s decision. In a statement the party called on the court to protect the institution of the referendum and not to allow a referendum to be held that would only serve the political interests of ruling Fidesz.

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