Socialists want fine imposed by house speaker on lawmakers to be void

Budapest (MTI) – The opposition Socialists have asked parliament’s immunity committee to void fines imposed by House Speaker László Kövér on lawmakers who protested in parliament against the president signing amendments to Hungary’s law on higher education recently.

Deputy party leader Zoltán Gőgös told a press conference before the closed meeting of the committee that if the fines are not void, the party will submit a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Kövér has ruled to cut nine lawmakers’ salaries by 50,000 to 100,000 forints because they were holding signs that read “Veto” and “Don’t Sign It János” during a session. Kövér branded their action as “lese-majeste” while the Socialists insist that the lawmakers only represented the voice of the people and their rights must not be curbed in democracy, Gőgös said.

Green opposition LMP group leader Bernadett Szél said earlier on Wednesday that debates about opposition lawmakers using signs during addresses were “futile and mad” and showed that they have to fight for the freedom of opinion even within parliament.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI