demonstration

Opposition to query state-owned firms on implementation of labour code amendment

Parliament’s opposition parties on Wednesday said they will ask state-owned companies whether they plan on implementing the labour code’s new rules on overtime.

Ildikó Borbély Bangó, the Socialist Party’s deputy group leader, told a press conference she held jointly with other opposition politicians that the opposition will send out letters to state-owned company executives asking them if they will “enforce the slave law”.

She noted that there are currently 200 companies in Hungary funded from taxpayer money.

Bangó said the opposition parties will visit the premises of a state-owned company each week to ask their management about the implementation of the new overtime rules.

The Liberal Party’s Anett Bősz, who sits in parliament as an independent, called on the companies in question to honour the prime minister’s promise that under the new rules, employees will still receive their overtime pay at the end of the month.

Zsolt Gréczy of the Democratic Coalition said the polls showed that

the new rules were unpopular, adding that “a slew of multinational companies” were also refusing to implement them.

LMP’s Antal Csárdi said the implementation of the new rules could lead to accidents at transportation companies. This was why, he said, it was important to know whether Budapest transport authority BKK, railway company MÁV and bus company Volán plan on enforcing them.

Bence Tordai of Párbeszéd said the parties would encourage the workers of state-owned companies to join a planned national strike on Saturday. He said the opposition hopes the strike comes to fruition and that it will be accompanied by demonstrations in all major cities.

Tamás Pintér of conservative Jobbik said

the “slave law” transcended party lines and that the opposition was united in calling for its repeal.

The amendments to the labour code, approved by parliament in December, raised the annual threshold for overtime from 250 to 400 hours.

January 16, 2019

Opposition holds anti-government protest in Békéscsaba

Opposition parties that do and do not have seats in parliament protested against the government as well as amendments to the labour code in Békéscsaba, in southeast Hungary, on Saturday evening.

The crowd formed a procession, waving opposition party flags and banners on which “Resist!” was written. Chanting “We are not afraid!”, the protesters walked along the city’s main street to the city hall where they listened to opposition politicians who had arrived for the demonstration.

Independent MP Ákos Hadházy said

already 400,000 signatures had been collected supporting Hungary’s joining the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Anett Bősz, the head of the Liberals and an independent MP, said the opposition is bound together by the needs of the “true republic”. Opposition parties, civil organisations and unions will continue joint demonstrations to bring about “a new change of system”, she added.

Democratic Coalition lawmaker Ágnes Vadai asked people to challenge the government on the labour code amendment passed in a year which was dedicated to supporting families.

Conservative Jobbik MP Andrea Varga-Damm said

the “slave law” had brought together the diverging ideologies of the opposition to achieve a common goal. “The European parliamentary elections will be the day of the new change of system”, she added.

LMP board member Kálmán Kis-Szeniczey called for a boycott of the “slave law”.

Bence Tordai, of Párbeszéd, said the opposition should pit single candidates against each Fidesz representative in the upcoming local council elections.

Anna Donáth, the deputy leader of Momentum, said the crowd gathered in Bekescsaba was evidence that people are not afraid and are again expressing their political views.

István Nika, a leader of unions association MADOSZ, said at most two in a hundred workers agree to work overtime and only because they can’t earn enough to provide for their families.

The amendments to the labour code, approved by parliament in December, raised the annual threshold for overtime from 250 to 400 hours. Read more HERE: SCANDAL IN THE HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT! ORBÁN HAILS “SLAVE LAW”, OPPOSITION PROTESTS

NO HESITATION! PRESIDENT ÁDER SIGNS THE AMENDMENT OF THE LABOR LAW – UPDATE

President János Áder has signed an amendment to the labour code, the president’s office said on its website.

January 13, 2019

Orbán’s cabinet: Brussels demonstration work of ‘Soros network’

A demonstration in Brussels by the Radical European Democrats (RED) dubbed “Stop Orbán” is not about Hungary’s new labor code, the judicial system or the rule of law and democracy but it is the work of the “Soros network”, state secretary for international communications Zoltán Kovács said in a blog entry on Tuesday.

The demonstration shows “the international Left engaged in a concerted campaign effort, desperate to find some sliver of hope for their own electoral chances and to smear a popular, democratically elected government that staunchly opposes immigration and insists on national sovereignty,” he said.

Anyone who looks at the details of the new labour law, can see that the claims of the Hungarian government’s political opponents are a farce, he added.

The new rules make it possible for employees to voluntarily work more overtime hours, Kovács said.

Referring to an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) chart which he inserted in the post, he said it showed that the new rules would take Hungary closer to the OECD average.

“But if you’re worried about ‘slavery,’ you should probably look at some of those other labor markets,” he added.

As regards the judicial system, Kovács said Hungary’s legal system has long been a part of the Austrian and German legal tradition, where the constitutional courts are clearly independent. These new courts would do nothing to undermine that, he said, referring to the public administration courts.

He sharply criticised the “unsavory coalition of parties” that have joined forces.

“They’ve got the Hungarian Socialists and the Liberals and the Green and, in their Budapest demonstrations and plans to compile a common list for the European Parliamentary elections in May, they also include – waitforit – the far-right, anti-Semitic, anti-Roma Jobbik,” he said.

He added that Jobbik is the same party whose vice president once called for a list to be drawn up “to find out how many MPs or government officials of Jewish origin there are who pose a certain national security threat.”

“For years, Leftists, the liberal media establishment, and the pro-migration Brussels elite have tried to smear the Orban Government as ‘anti-semitic’ and ‘xenophobic’. [Dutch Green MEP Judith] Sargentini even had the audacity to include a passage about ‘rights of persons belonging to minorities, including Roma and Jews’ in her report.

But what do they do when Hungary’s left cozies up to the real xenophobes? They simply turn a blind eye,” Kovács said in the blog entry.

Featured image: www.facebook.com/Ujhelyi István dr.

January 9, 2019

European and Hungarian opposition stage anti-government demonstration in Brussels

Dutch Green MEP Judith Sargentini, author of a report critical of the state of the rule of law in Hungary approved by the European Parliament last year, addressed a demonstration against the Hungarian government’s policies organised by the Hungarian opposition in Brussels on Tuesday.

In her speech at the protest organised by the Radical European Democrats (RED) movement, Sargentini stressed the importance of a free media and being critical of governments in a democracy.

She said it was dangerous to conflate a government or a political party with the state or its citizens, adding that this is what was happening in the case of debates on the situation in Hungary.

She also said it was important for trade unions, civil groups and opposition parties to come together.

As regards her report, Sargentini said it focused on a number of key topics about civil rights in Hungary and how the Hungarian government was undermining those rights. The MEP said all European citizens have equal rights.

Sargentini said she was expressing solidarity with Hungarians because they are “first class European citizens”.

The politician said the time for “quiet diplomacy” was over and it was time to act, lest the situation worsens.

Socialist Party MEP István Ujhelyi said being Hungarian was equally important to remaining European. “Let’s keep Hungary in Europe,” he said. “But we have to choose: Europe or Orbanistan.”

Democratic Coalition MEP Csaba Molnár said Hungary was “revolting” because [Prime Minister] Viktor Orbán had “ruined” the shared European ideal in the EU over the past few years. He said that by not expelling ruling Fidesz from the ranks of the European People’s Party, EPP group leader Manfred Weber was “protecting a deceitful, corrupt regime that is rotten to the core”.

Párbeszéd MEP Benedek Jávor’s speech was read out by his colleague Roland Papp. He said “Orbán’s Hungary” was becoming a country of public workers and overworked public sector workers.

“The majority of Hungarians do not want a country like the one being built by Orbán today,” he insisted.

János Kendernay of LMP said the “Orbán regime” was serving big capital over the people. He said Hungary’s workforce would eventually disappear, because “anyone who can is leaving”.

Barnabás Mester, one of the founders of the RED movement, pointed out the number of Hungarian participants at anti-government protests abroad, saying that those people had left Hungary because of the government’s policies.

Balázs Nemeth of the Momentum Movement said 2019 would be the “year of resistance” and that Hungarians would have to be politically active “until Hungary has a democratic government again”.

Featured image: MTI/AP

January 9, 2019

Trade unions submit list of demands to government

Anti-government Demonstration in Budapest

Trade unions demand the withdrawal of labour code amendments, changes to the strike law, fair wages and a flexible pension system in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and submitted to a representative of the innovation and technology ministry on Tuesday.

Head of the trade unions confederation MaSzSz László Kordás told a press conference after submitting the demands that the government has five days to set up a negotiating delegation and failing to do so will result in the preparation of nation-wide strikes.

Additionally, the preparation of a nation-wide demonstration for January 19 is already under way, he said.

The letter submitted on Tuesday has been signed by MaSzSz, the Forum for the Cooperation of Trade Unions (SZEF) and the Trade Union Federation of Intellectuals, he said.

The demonstration will start at 3:00 in the afternoon, to avoid disrupting students’ school entrance exams, he said. So far, sympathisers in 140 communities have signalled they are ready to support unions’ goals in some form, be it demonstrating or closing down roads, he added.

Fielding a question about the possible country-wide strike, Kordás said workers’ willingness to strike must be gauged before any preparations can be made. Unions want to stage the strike within the bounds of the law, he added.

MASzSz called for the January 19 demonstration at a protest in Budapest on Saturday.

A number of anti-government demonstrations have taken place in the capital and other cities around the country since lawmakers approved legislation in December raising the upper threshold for annual overtime from 250 hours to 400 hours and extending the period employers may account overtime for the purpose of calculating wages and rest days from twelve months to three years. Members of the government have defended the amendments to the Labour Code and called the controversy over their passage “pretense”.

Featured image: MTI

January 9, 2019

Political commentator: no “mood for striking” in Hungary

There is no “mood for striking” in Hungary and support for protests has not grown in the past few weeks, political scientist Zoltán Kiszelly told public current affairs channel M1 on Tuesday.

“The trade union bubble will be the first to burst” as people do not back their demands, he said.

Kiszelly said that by 2013, the country had left behind the debt trap which was a legacy of successive left-liberal governments. “Life has become gradually easier since,” he said, adding that people on middle and lower incomes now felt more financially secure.

The opposition parties are trying to appropriate the demands of trade unions for their own political purposes, he said.

Meanwhile, movements launched by “fake NGOs”, and “self-styled politicians” have also appeared, he added.

The daily Magyar Idők said on Tuesday that trade unions were doubtful about whether a national strike would go ahead, and it was also unclear whether any demonstration would be held on Saturday.

László Kordas, president of the Hungarian Trade Union Confederation, told the paper several people had misunderstood the situation earlier, and only partial road blockages and other warning actions would be taken as the full willingness of employees was needed for a general strike to go ahead.

No date has been agreed on for a nationwide strike and preparations such as setting up a joint strike committee for a number of confederations and local unions are in their early stages, the paper said.

András Földiák, head of the SZEF trades union forum, said a strike would only be considered as a last resort should talks with the government break down. Organising a strike would take at least one month, he added. Negotiations are the way forward and everything should be done to avoid a strike, Földiák said.

Magyar Idők insisted that the majority of trade union confederations operating independently of political parties had already distanced themselves from the opposition’s actions.

Imre Palkovics, head of the Workers’ Council, said the chances of organising a national work stoppage were zero.

“Employees don’t want to get involved in a strike with political objectives,” he said, adding that political pressure would not get anywhere and the economic circumstances did not justify holding one.

Featured image: MTI

January 8, 2019

Fidesz: Anti-government protesters on Soros’s payroll

Among the participants in recent demonstrations against new overtime regulations were organisations on US billionaire George Soros’s payroll, the parliamentary group leader of ruling Fidesz said in public Kossuth Radio on Sunday.

Saturday’s demonstration was already part of the campaign for the European parliamentary elections in May, in which voters will get a chance to decide if anti-migration forces should become stronger or weaker in the EP, Máté Kocsis said. Read more here about the demonstration.

The parties that participated in the protest support migration and Soros, so it is clear that “George Soros has lined up his people in Hungary for the battle”, Kocsis said.

“The opposition parties’ idea to run on a joint list in the European election means that there will be an anti-migration list where votes for Fidesz-Christian Democrats can be cast and there will be a ‘Soros list’ for those who support migration and Soros,” he said.

Anti-government protests are under way in several countries around Europe where the governments are anti-migration, he said.

The opposition parties’ actions in Parliament at the vote on the overtime law and in the public media headquarters have been efforts to cause disturbance, attract attention and generate hysteria as part of the campaign, he added.

News website Origo said on Sunday that “pro-Soros demonstrators announced in the demonstration that [DK leader Ferenc] Gyurcsány, Jobbik, Momentum, LMP and the Socialists would field a joint list for the European parliamentary elections.”

Commenting on the report, Kocsis said on his Facebook page that this would actually be a Soros list. The planned EP list clearly shows that only those can be put on it who support migration, he added.

Socialist leader Bertalan Tóth said during Saturday’s demonstration that

unity had been created between opposition forces both in parliament and in the streets.

He called on the opposition parties to cooperate in both the European and local elections later this year. He said the opposition parties should field joint candidates everywhere.

January 7, 2019

Protests held in Szolnok, Debrecen against labour code changes

Opposition parties and trade unions protested against the amendments to the labour code in Szolnok in central Hungary and Debrecen in eastern Hungary on Saturday.

Addressing the Szolnok demonstration attended by 300 people, Momentum board member Katalin Cseh described 2019 as a year of resistance.

Some 250 people gathering in front of the city hall of Debrecen promised to join the nationwide protests announced for January 19.

The Debrecen event was addressed by representatives of the opposition Socialists, Jobbik, LMP, Momentum parties and trade unions.

The speakers demanded that the “slave law” should be withdrawn and former Debrecen mayor Lajos Kósa should leave public life.

As we wrote yesterday, an anti-government demonstration started on Heroes’ Square in Budapest, with the participants moving through Andrássy Avenue towards the Parliament building. Opposition parties called for further protests, another change of regime and building a new republic, while trade unions announced nationwide demonstrations to be held on January 19 in protest against recent amendments to the labour code. Read more HERE, photos.

Also we wrote, opposition parties and civil groups staged demonstrations to protest against recent changes to the labour code in Pécs (S) and Szombathely (W) on Friday evening, read more HERE.

January 6, 2019

Trade unions and oppositions held anti-government demonstration in Budapest – Photos

An anti-government demonstration started on Heroes’ Square in Budapest today afternoon, with the participants moving through Andrássy Avenue towards the Parliament building. Opposition parties called for further protests, another change of regime and building a new republic, while trade unions announced nationwide demonstrations to be held on January 19 in protest against recent amendments to the labour code.

László Kordas, head of the TU confederation MSZOSZ, said during an anti-government demonstration in Budapest that they would present a list of demands to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Tuesday and give five days to the government to set up a negotiating committee.

If the government fails to set up the committee by the deadline, the unions will hold a nationwide warning strike, and protesters will block roads and bridges, he said.

The trade unions are prepared for “a militant period” because the government has “made a deal with capitalists” and “chose to side with heinous profit-hunters”, he said.

Head of the teachers’ trade union PDSZ Tamás Szűcs called for action and said there was no reason to fear from strikes because they were the only way to succeed and force those in power to back off.

Socialist leader Bertalan Tóth said that unity has been created between opposition forces both in parliament and in the streets. He called on the opposition parties to cooperate in both the European and local elections later this year. He said the opposition parties should field joint candidates for the municipal elections everywhere.

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/no-hesitation-president-ader-signs-the-amendment-of-the-labor-law/” color=”orange” newwindow=”yes”] PRESIDENT ÁDER SIGNS THE AMENDMENT OF THE LABOR LAW – UPDATE[/button]

Conservative opposition Jobbik spokesman Péter Jakab said a petition would be launched against the “slave law”.

Opposition DK deputy leader Csaba Molnár said even if Prime Minister Viktor Orbán backs off and withdraws the labour code amendments, they would not stop because they are “rebelling” against the entire regime not just specific laws.

Opposition LMP lawmaker Antal Csárdi said four million employees were affected by the “slave law”, so the main task was to get it withdrawn and the labour code to be revised. He called the trade unions and other opposition parties for consultations on January 9.

Opposition Párbeszed co-leader Gergely Karácsony said the government was unable to apply the dictatorial tactics of “divide and rule” against the protesters.

Independent lawmaker Bernadett Szel said “the world must not belong to the populists and Hungary must not belong to Orban”.

Liberals executive and independent lawmaker Anett Bősz said that Hungary’s rule of law and democracy would have to be restored.

Momentum deputy leader Anna Donáth said Hungarians were not slaves.

The protest started from Heroes’ Square and new demonstrators joined the crowd as it was moving through the city. When the beginning of the crowd arrived in Kossuth Square near parliament, the end was at the corner of Andrássy Square and Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Road around 1.5 km away.

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Fidesz reaction

The ruling Fidesz party said the event was part of US billionaire George Soros’s European parliamentary election campaign.

“Soros wants to strengthen pro-immigration forces and mobilise parties and organisations to attack governments that oppose immigration,” spokesman Balazs Hidveghi told reporters.

January 5, 2019

Protests staged against labour changes in Pécs, Szombathely

Opposition parties and civil groups staged demonstrations to protest against recent changes to the labour code in Pécs (S) and Szombathely (W) on Friday evening.

In Pécs, LMP co-leader László Lóránt Keresztes said that “the ruling parties have now rejected all they used to promote… and have sold out the country’s independence to the Russians”.

The protesters demanded that the government should be ousted, and marched to the city centre carrying the national colours, the flag of the European Union as well as the red and white stripes associated with the extreme right.

In Széchenyi Square, Balázs Nemes, local leader of the Momentum Movement, told some 500 participants that “this is our homeland and we won’t let them steal it… 2019 will be a year for resistance”.

Some 250 people demonstrated in Szombathely, where LMP’s Gábor Vágó spoke in his address about “unprecedented corruption” in government circles.

Local Democratic Coalition deputy Tímea Glázer said that “they should have spent a lot more money on hospitals rather than on sports stadiums”.

The protesters walked to the local office of ruling Fidesz, and left a large sign that read “We are not slaves” across its windows.

As we wrote, opposition parties, civil organisations and trade unions held an anti-government protest in Szeged, in southern Hungary, on Thursday. Read more details HERE.

EXTRAORDINARY PARLIAMENT SESSION LACKED QUORUM

A special session of parliament lacked quorum on Thursday because ruling party Fidesz lawmakers stayed away from it, read more HERE.

January 5, 2019

LMP to take part in Saturday opposition demonstration

Opposition LMP members and supporters will take part in Saturday’s opposition demonstration in Heroes’ Square, moving on to Kossuth Square, an LMP official has said.

“All peaceful means must be seized in defiance of the slave law,” Máté Kanász-Nagy, the head of LMP’s national board, told a press conference in Budapest on Friday.

“We’re going to demonstrate in the capital and across the nation,” he said.

“We’re also prepared to block roads and may even call on employees to go on strike countrywide.”

Referring to recent amendments to the labour code which increases the amount of overtime that an employee can undertake, the LMP politician said the “slave law and the way it was adopted go to show the failure of the government’s economic and labour market policymaking.”

He said it was clear the government saw the country’s competitiveness tied to low-wage labour, while it had allied itself with the interests of foreign multinational companies such as car manufacturers.

As we wrote, opposition parties, civil organisations and trade unions held an anti-government protest in Szeged, in southern Hungary, yesterday, read more HERE.

Photo: MTI

January 4, 2019

Anti-government demonstration held in Szeged

Opposition parties, civil organisations and trade unions held an anti-government protest in Szeged, in southern Hungary, on Thursday.

The protesters almost filled Dugonics Square in the centre of town.

Opposition Socialist MP Sándor Szabó told the demonstrators that the local council of Szeged had been the first to announce a boycott against the introduction of new labor regulations and several others have joined since. The opposition must join forces for the European parliamentary elections and local elections this year, he added.

Edvin Mihalik of the Momentum Movement said the government did not serve the interests of the nation but robbed people of the possibility of making progress.

Gábor Radics, secretary of the Szeged rubber plant trade union, said the consequences of new labour laws were impossible to foresee and the number of accidents could increase as a result of overburdened workers.

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The participants of the event dubbed “Let’s Protect Szeged” marched from the square through the centre of the city to a statue of Hungary’s martyred Prime Minister Imre Nagy in front of the Csongrád County government building.

Photo: Momentum Csongrád megye

January 4, 2019

Orbán cabinet: left-liberal opposition responsible for ‘violence’ in parliament

It is the left-liberal opposition’s responsibility that “physical intimidation and violence” have appeared as “a tool” in parliament, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said in an interview published by news portal PestiSracok.hu on Friday.

In general everyone carries responsibility for the deterioration of relations of Hungarian public life, Gergely Gulyás told the portal.

But the opposition carries the sole responsibility for what took place during plenary sessions in parliament and at demonstrations on the streets over the past weeks, Gulyás said.

“We are democrats, we will turn to the electorate to draw the political responsibility, and it is not our job to assign legal responsibility,” he said.

The labour code amendment’s approval in parliament served clearly as an excuse for the demonstrations, Gulyás said.

Although Hungarian law allows lawmakers to enter public institutions, it also stipulates that they shall not disturb its normal operation, Gulyás said. The opposition’s attempt at the public broadcaster’s headquarters last week to have their petition read on air constituted just that, he said.

There is no mass support behind these demonstrations, he said. Gulyás argued that “a special coalition seeking to embrace” the left-liberal parties under one roof with the Jobbik party immersed in anti-Semitic scandals and [the Democratic Coalition led by] Ferenc Gyurcsány could with the support of trade unions take only a few thousand people to the streets.

“We will ask voters that if they want a normal democratic state governed by the rule of law where decisions are not enforced by a minority in politics they should support the allied ruling parties in the upcoming European Parliamentary elections,” he said.

HUGE ANTI-GOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATION THRONGS CENTRAL BUDAPEST – PHOTOS, VIDEO!

December 29, 2018

Demo staged in Budapest against removal of Imre Nagy memorial

The leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) and the Nagy Imre Society held a demonstration against the removal of the martyred 1956 prime minister’s memorial from Martyrs’ Square near Parliament.

The memorial, a bronze statue of Imre Nagy on a bridge, was removed in the early hours of Friday, with Tamás Wachsler, the chief coordinator of reconstruction of the area, citing the square’s rehabilitation as a reason. The memorial will be moved to Jászai Mari Square near Margaret Bridge, he said. A reconstructed post-WWI monument dedicated to the martyrs of the communist Red Terror in 1919 will take its place, he said. (More details HERE)

Demonstrators lit candles at the former site of the statue on Friday afternoon.

Former MP Imre Mécs, who was also sentenced to death after the 1956 uprising and served years in prison, called for the memorial to be restored to its previous place.

DK‘s MEP Csaba Molnár said that

the statue was a memento of the power of the people and the nation that will not tolerate tyranny.

Gergely Orsi, a Budapest councilor of the opposition Socialists, called the memorial’s removal a “shameless act on the government’s part which again brought people on the streets”, and called for the memorial’s restoration to Martyrs’ Square.

December 29, 2018

Socialists initiate strategic consultations on EP elections

Anti-government demonstration staged at presidential palace in Budapest

The opposition Socialists’ campaign chief for the 2019 European Parliamentary elections has invited other campaign chiefs of the “democratic opposition parties” for strategic consultations in the first week of January, adding that joint efforts could cause cracks on the regime of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

The opposition has huge responsibility to assume for halting the “efforts of Orbán and his oligarchs to establish dictatorial rule,” István Ujhelyi told a press conference on Thursday.

As ruling Fidesz’s failure to win a majority of Hungarian EP seats would reveal the vulnerability of the Orbán regime, the opposition forces competing for voters should in any case coordinate their strategies, he said.

“Obviously, this cannot mean a large joint opposition list,” he said, adding that several parties have already named their candidates for the EP elections 2019.

Referring to the pre-Christmas demonstrations, Ujhelyi said that unprecedented and exemplary cooperation of opposition forces, trade unions and voters had created a common front against the Orbán regime, adding that the protests would resume in January.

Fidesz said in response that Ujhelyi represented “Brussels and its immigration policy”. Hungary needs MEPs representing Hungarian interests, as does the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance, it said.

As we wrote a week ago, the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance has selected Justice Minister László Trócsányi to head their list for next year’s European Parliamentary elections, Fidesz announced on last Thursday, read more HERE.

December 27, 2018

Anti-government demonstration staged at presidential palace in Budapest – PHOTOS

The satirical Two-tailed Dog Party staged a “national Christmas peace march” in Budapest, marching from the Parliament area to the Chain Bridge and then back to Parliament on Friday evening. After this, opposition parties and civil groups staged a demonstration in front of the presidential palace in Budapest’s Castle District on Friday evening.

Two-tailed Dog stages mock-demonstration in central Budapest

Demonstrators in the front row carried an inscription “The worse the better”. The crowd chanted slogans including

“More overtime work!”, “No pensions!” or “Long live the Party”.

Two-tailed Dog party peakers addressing the event thanked the government “for all their good deeds for the people”.

Two-tailed Dog stages mock-demonstration in central Budapest — “The worse the better” Photo: MTI

Opposition parties and civil groups staged a demonstration

The protest was held under the motto “Shame on you, János!” after President Janos Áder signed a new law under which the maximum of overtime work could be raised and another one introducing public administration courts.

Anna Donáth, deputy head of the Momentum movement, welcomed that protests are held “not only in Budapest but in other cities, moreover, across Europe” against the Hungarian government’s policies.

“Let 2019 be a year for resistance,” the speaker added.

Socialist board member Balázs Bárány said that people have had enough of the government’s propaganda depicting protesters as “Soros-agents and anti-Christians” and added that the government “had better get used to a different style of opposition politics from now on”.

Tamás Szűcs, head of teachers’ union PDSZ, said that “there cannot be another agenda for January than to stop the country”.

Csaba Gyüre (Jobbik), photo: MTI

Csaba Gyüre, deputy leader of conservative Jobbik, said that “we will not be slaves in our own country!”

He also demanded that the president should be directly elected rather than by parliament.

Independent MP Ákos Hadházy said that the “illegitimate laws” could be annulled if the protesters “demonstrate power”.

Párbeszéd co-leader Tímea Szabó carried a puppet with Áder’s features and said that

“the president is no other than Viktor Orbán’s puppet”.

László Varjú, an MP of the Democratic Coalition, said “it is time that the people ousted the mafia-state” and added that “if Orban wants peace he should resign”.

demonstration Budapest — Photo by Balázs Béli

As we wrote on Sunday, civil organisations and opposition parties held a demonstration against a recent law on extending voluntary overtime in Budapest. Read more here, check out photos.

December 22, 2018

LMP: Labour code amendment ‘neoliberal law of a neoliberal government’

Peter Ungár, a lawmaker of opposition LMP, on Friday called the recent amendment to the labour code “the neoliberal law of a neoliberal government”.

Addressing a press conference, Ungar said Fidesz had been elected to represent the interests of workers against those of multinational corporations, but it had now enacted several measures that have gone against this promise. The politician said the labour code amendment, which he called the “slave law”, “clearly serves the interests of multinational companies”.

“Yesterday Fidesz had a chance to align its actions with its words, but this didn’t happen,” he said, reacting to President János Áder’s decision to sign the amendment into law.

LMP MP Ungár said the legislation would also hurt unions by making workers negotiate their overtime hours with their employers on their own. Further, it attempts to tackle worker poverty by making people work more, he added.

Commenting on the recent demonstrations against the labour code amendment, Ungár said it was possible that legal violations had taken place. As an example he pointed out that police did not enter headquarters of the public broadcaster MTVA despite Socialist MEP István Ujhelyi alerting them multiple times. Ungár also said that

MTVA’s security chief was heard giving instructions to police, when they are only supposed to take orders from their own superiors or senior interior ministry officials.

December 21, 2018

Orbán: No one can be allowed to engage in violence – Interview

No one can be allowed to engage in violence, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview to public broadcaster Kossuth Radio on Friday, referring to the recent anti-government demonstrations. The prime minister said a clear line must be drawn between the expression of one’s political views and vandalism.

The most aggressive and most active of those protesting the recent amendment to the labour code are on the payroll of US financier George Soros, Orbán said. He added that the demonstrations were also in part linked to international networks.

The prime minister said he also saw traces of this internationally, arguing that “right-wing governments have come under fire everywhere”.

Parliament last Wednesday voted to raise the upper threshold for annual overtime from 250 to 400 hours. The opposition blocked the house speaker’s dais and obstructed proceedings with loud whistling and jeering in an attempt to thwart the vote and later demonstrated in the streets. The legislation was signed by President János Áder yesterday.

Orbán criticised the damage caused by protesters last week on Kossuth Square, saying that it was “a serious thing in legal terms” to throw smoke bombs at police.

“It’s never well-intentioned people throwing smoke bombs,” he said, noting that the point of smoke bombs was to obscure vision.

Commenting on injuries sustained by police at the demonstrations, Orbán noted that in the 2006 clashes between protesters and police, peaceful demonstrators were charged by mounted police.

Orbán said he had asked the interior minister to make sure that police respond “firmly but patiently” to protesters’ actions. “And they managed to do just that,” he said, reaffirming the government’s support for the police force.

HALF OF THE WORLD TALKS ABOUT THE HUNGARIAN ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTS – Read more HERE

The prime minister said he believed it has become clear that the amendment to the labour code was “merely an excuse”, arguing that this was not the first time that the opposition was “screaming ‘end of the world'”.

Concerning parliament’s approval of the amendment amid the opposition’s attempts to obstruct proceedings, Orbán said the ruling parties could not afford to stand down during the session.

Orbán said the opposition’s acts of sitting in his chair and trying to block his vote button even had legal implications.

“But lawmaking cannot be obstructed with scandal when you have committed people like us on the other side, and we weren’t engaging in violence,” he said.

Addressing listeners, Orbán said Hungarians should not worry, because whatever they may see the opposition do, the government will still carry out its duties.

Concerning the legislation itself, Orbán said the amendment clearly prohibits forcing anybody to work overtime. “Anyone who says otherwise is lying,” he said.

He said it was the economic policies demonstrating a need for workers that protected working people rather than the labour code. Orbán said wages have been rising for 4-5 years now.

But the law that had been in place prior to the amendment placed “silly restrictions” on those who wanted to make more money and would have been willing to work more, the prime minister said. Just as they have in the past, workers will continue to receive both their regular and overtime pay at the end of the month in the future, too, he said.

The amendments are an advantage for Hungarian-owned SMEs that do not have the resources to manage the labour shortage that foreign-owned multinationals have, Orbán said.

Commenting on next year’s European parliamentary elections, he said the country needed MEPs who represent Hungary in Brussels and not Brussels in Hungary. Orbán said the opposition’s view is that Hungary should be doing whatever Brussels says. As a result, those who send opposition representatives to the EP will be sending people that are not going to be representing Hungary there, he added. He expressed hope that the citizens of many countries will send more representatives to the parliament in Brussels who are dedicated to the national cause and “can turn current trends around”.

He highlighted migration as the most important issue and added that the economic policies followed by Brussels were not to Hungary’s benefit.

He said all projections showed that Hungary’s economy would continue to perform well in 2019 and added that the government was determined to make quick decisions if unfavourable global trends make it necessary.

“We are also able to handle the thunders well,” Orbán said. Hungarians have seen in recent years that they are able to support their families from work and “we are able to make a good living utilising our own resources,” he said. “We are going to continue on this path.”

As regards the minimum wage, Orbán said it was up to employees and employers to agree on it and that the government should act only as a mediator. The cabinet does not want to make the decision even if it has the right to do so, he added. Orbaá said he had asked the finance minister to make every effort to help the sides reach an agreement.

Commenting on the recent Africa summit, he said that by 2050, there could be 2.5 billion people living on the continent and there won’t be enough room for them. It is necessary to prepare for their outflux and we must be able to protect our borders, he added. At the same time, help must be granted for them to stay at home, he said.

Hungary is offering scholarships to 900 African students and once they finish their education, they can return to serve in their homes, he added.

December 21, 2018