Special parliament session on ‘secretly accepted’ refugees fails to reach quorum

A special session of parliament initiated by opposition Jobbik to debate the “secret acceptance” of 2,300 refugees in the last three years failed to reach quorum on Tuesday because lawmakers of the ruling alliance boycotted the session.

Jobbik leader Gábor Vona said in the session that Fidesz’s migration policy had “collapsed” and that the ruling party was incapable of protecting Hungary.

The Jobbik leader cited deputy state secretary Kristóf Altusz as saying in an interview to a Maltese newspaper that Hungary had taken in some 1,300 refugees last year and accused the government of having lied for the past three years. “Fidesz is the government of relocation,” Vona said, adding that the government’s “Stop Soros” bill was being set up as a means to attack civil groups which the government used to support.

In his rebuttal, Csaba Dömötör, state secretary at the prime minister’s cabinet, said Hungary had not taken in a single migrant and any report that says otherwise is “fake news”. He insisted that only the opposition wanted to resettle migrants in Hungary.

Green opposition LMP’s Bernadett Szél called on the ruling parties to account for their absence from the session.

She also called on Speaker of Parliament László Kövér to comment on the insistence of Szilárd Németh, the Fidesz deputy head of parliament’s national security committee, that she constitutes a national security risk.

Szél also demanded to know why the government had not raised the wages of local council workers and when their base salary would be raised to 60,000 forints (EUR 194).

Interior ministry state secretary Tibor Pogácsás said the government had done a lot to raise wages considering Hungary’s economic situation, noting that the government had introduced career models in several sectors. The current budget allows for local councils to determine workers’ base salaries starting this year, he said.

Fidesz group leader Gergely Gulyás said the real reason the opposition had called today’s parliamentary session was to “score points” with their voters.

On the topic of migration, he said the Hungarian government was among the first European governments to declare that it would not take in a single migrant.

It resisted the European Union’s migrant quota scheme and built a fence on Hungary’s border, he added.

“We helped those who were in need but we will not let Hungary become an immigrant country,” Gulyás said.

The leftist opposition Democratic Coalition also boycotted the session saying that Fidesz should be replaced rather than debated.

featured image: MTI

Source: MTI