Socialists to stay away from Constitutional Court election

Budapest (MTI) – The opposition Socialists will stay away from the upcoming election of members to the Constitutional Court, party leader Jozsef Tobias told a press conference on Friday.

Instead, the Socialist Party will submit a proposal to “guarantee the independence and professionalism” of the body, Tobias said. He argued that in recent years members of the top court have been elected “on a political basis”, which has considerably harmed the body’s reputation.

Under the Socialist proposal, the head of the Constitutional Court should be selected by the members, while the body should be reduced to 11 judges, with a mandatory retirement age of 70, Tobias said. Constitutional judges should also be banned from political activities, he added.

Tobias also said that “there is no point in participating in the current process”. He insisted that ruling Fidesz has “lost its two-thirds majority and is now acting out a play of holding talks on a bad system they wish to retain”.

Referring to earlier calls by the Democratic Coalition and Egyutt parties to stay away from the top court election process, Tobias said that his party would not take “any ultimatum or dictate” from the government or from other opposition parties.

Photo: MTI

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