Dialogue for Hungary (Párbeszéd Magyarországért)

Citizens’ initiative for universal basic income to launch on Sept 25

forint 20 thousands

A European citizens’ initiative will be launched on Sept. 25, calling for the introduction of universal basic income in all European Union member states, a Párbeszéd lawmaker said on Tuesday.

Bence Tordai, the party’s deputy group leader, noted at a press conference that one million signatures must be gathered before for the European Commission to table the proposal.

Party co-leader Tímea Szabó said

nearly half of Hungarian livelihoods had been endangered by the coronavirus epidemic.

The pandemic had shown that people and governments alike can be caught off guard by unexpected events, Szabó said.

During the first wave, hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs or a proportion of their salaries, she said.

“We can already see that the second wave is likely to be a lot worse,” she added.

Universal basic income is the only long-term solution to mitigating such events, she said.

Tordai noted that the current week is International Basic Income Week. Round-table discussions will be held throughout the week, he noted, followed by a “March for Basic Income” on Saturday, “if the pandemic situation allows”.

Daily News Hungary economy
Read alsoPublic employee union calls strike in Hungary

State Treasury: Budapest municipality owns EUR 377.2m in state bonds

Hungarian State Treasury államkincstár

The Budapest municipality owns 135 billion forints (EUR 377.2m) in bonds and more than 27 billion in cash, according to the city council’s balance sheet report submitted on July 20, the Hungarian State Treasury said on Monday.

In an interview to public current affairs channel M1 on Saturday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called on the municipality to come to the aid of employees of the hospitality sector, which has been badly hit by the coronavirus epidemic. “It is good news” that the city has some 100 billion forints at its disposal to use as it sees fit, Orbán said.

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony responded on Facebook on Sunday, saying

the capital did not have money to take over the responsibilities of the central government.

He insisted that the city was “150 billion forints in the red”, and that alongside the contraction caused by the coronavirus epidemic, the government’s austerity measures had eroded the municipality’s resources.

Karácsony called on the government to allocate half of the funding from the European Union’s recovery package to local governments, in proportion to their population.

Socialists and Párbeszéd

Meanwhile, leaders of the opposition Socialists and Párbeszéd said on Monday that helping out the tourism sector hit by the novel coronavirus epidemic was the job of the state and 50 billion forints (EUR 140m) support should be paid to businesses in the sector from the national crisis management fund.

Karácsony, who was re-elected as co-leader of Parbeszed last weekend, told an online press conference broadcast on the Socialists’ Facebook page that a proposal by the Fidesz-Christian Democrats group in Budapest for the municipal council to pay for this task had been ‘hypocritical’.

In addition to the extra costs incurred, the coronavirus epidemic also resulted in significant funding drawn away from the municipal council, which, he added, lacked the resources to take over state tasks.

Socialist leader Bertalan Tóth said

the government was treating businesses in Budapest like “stepchildren”.

He called on the government to support Hungarians SMEs instead of lining the pockets of oligarchs.

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Read alsoOrbán: Coronavirus must not be allowed to paralyse Hungary again

Opposition Párbeszéd re-elects Szabó, Karácsony as co-leaders

karácsony párbeszéd

Tímea Szabó and Gergely Karácsony were both re-elected for another two years as the liberal opposition Párbeszéd party’s co-leaders at a party congress on Sunday.

Party members also voted to appoint members of Párbeszéd’s board, which was expanded from seven to nine members. The party’s co-leaders are members of the board by default.

At a press conference held on the sidelines of the event Karácsony said that the congress had set up a team to prepare the party for the 2022 parliamentary elections. He highlighted the importance of fielding joint individual candidates, and noted that all opposition parties were in consensus to do so in all 106 individual constituencies nationwide. Karácsony added that

his party maintained its position that candidates should be selected in a primary.

On another subject, Karácsony said that a basic income automatically payable to each citizen could be “an important pillar for Hungary in the future” and added that Párbeszéd would work to convince its political partners to support that proposal.

Szabó said that

over 80 percent of Hungarian voters, including supporters of ruling Fidesz, would welcome the introduction of a universal basic income, adding that it would help each adult with “at least” 100,000 forints (EUR 280) a month, while minors would be ensured half of that amount.

She added that Párbeszéd would increase the net monthly average wage to 166,000 forints.

Visegrád
Read alsoOpposition Párbeszéd files complaint over sale of Visegrad hotel

Opposition Párbeszéd files complaint over sale of Visegrad hotel

Visegrád

The deputy group leader of opposition Párbeszéd has filed a criminal complaint for severe financial mismanagement involving the sale of a hotel in Visegrád in northern Hungary.

Bence Tordai told a press conference on Monday that the transaction involved the son-in-law of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán who had purchased the property for 1.6 billion forints (EUR 4.6m) only to resell it for 3.6 billion forints without adding any value to the facility.

The buyer, a fund manager, has caused damage to its company and its shareholders by paying an unreasonably high price, he added.

Tordai said that over the past ten years an authoritarian capitalist regime had emerged in Hungary. After a change of government in 2022, not only the fundamental ills of capitalism will have to be addressed but also the problems of a political system that had intertwined with it, he added.

Tordai said

the current regime “subordinates the operation of the economy to an oppressive power, a party-state rule”, which has almost eliminated fair competition and the free market.

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Read alsoThey are the most wanted Hungarian criminals

Opposition calls on government to drop ‘attempts to restrict Facebook’

Facebook

Opposition Párbeszéd has proposed a parliamentary decree under which the government would be obliged to give up its “attempts to restrict Facebook”, Párbeszéd deputy group leader Bence Tordai told a press conference on Thursday.

Tordai suggested that Facebook should operate under rules by the European Union rather than governed by member states. He said that the Hungarian government “has no tools” to exert such controls, adding that “an anti-democratic regime” could not ensure the democratic operations of social media.

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Read alsoHungary’s Competition Office levies EUR 3.6m fine on Facebook

Tordai insisted that ruling Fidesz had earlier tried to “influence users through fake profiles spreading fake news” on Facebook.

He also suggested that the opposition should start talks on how to counter Fidesz’s attempts at “censorship of Facebook”.

Earlier, the National Data Protection Authority criticised Facebook’s “fluctuating” practice of “unjustified” suspension of personal profiles.

Facebook Hungarian member
Read alsoWOW! Facebook’s “Supreme Court” was created, and one of its members is Hungarian!

The authority suggested that the Hungarian government should draft rules under which profiles could only be suspended with a sound reason, and the Hungarian authority could overrule those decisions.

Opposition protests planned investments on Budapest’s Hajógyári Island

hajógyári island sziget

Politicians of the opposition Párbeszéd and Democratic Coalition (DK) parties on Tuesday protested against reported plans by the government to set up a levy system and a kayak-canoe academy on Budapest’s Hajógyári Island on the Danube.

Citing an impact study, the daily Népszava reported that the plans would involve felling up to 1,000 trees on the island, which hosts the Sziget Festival, and would likely lead to raised water levels between the island and the city’s 3rd district.

Párbeszéd group leader Tímea Szabó told an online press conference:

“Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his team … have cast their sights again on the island … knowing they are about to further destroy the environment.”

The levy system would put Budapest’s 3rd district at risk of flooding, she said.

Szabó called the planned kayak and canoe academy “a step in Orbán’s stealthy preparation for an Olympic bid”.

László Kiss, the DK-party mayor of the 3rd district, said

the island was visited by thousands wishing to relax.

He asked for support from “those who love the island” and pledged to do everything in his power to “preserve it for families and the community”.

sziget fesztival
Read alsoSziget festival’s island in Budapest taken off World Heritage recommended list

Hungarian opposition to submit joint amendment proposals to 2021 budget bill

Daily News Hungary economy

Hungary’s opposition parliamentary parties on Monday said they will submit joint amendment proposals to the 2021 budget bill.

The proposals call for wage hikes in the health-care sector, lower taxes for local councils and higher pensions, among other changes.

Addressing a joint press conference, the leftist Democratic Coalition’s László Varju, the head of parliament’s budget committee, called for an immediate 50 percent wage hike for health-care workers.

Anita Kőrösi Potocska of conservative Jobbik called on the government to scrap the so-called solidarity contribution local councils are expected to pay into the central budget.

The Socialist Party’s Attila Mesterházy said the opposition wants the minimum pension to be raised to 80,000 forints (EUR 230) from the current 28,500.

Antal Csárdi of green LMP said that under the opposition’s proposals, local councils would get to keep their revenues from vehicle taxes rather than having to pay them into the central budget as they do under the government’s coronavirus response scheme.

Párbeszéd lawmaker Sándor Burány said

the period of eligibility for unemployment benefits should be extended from three months to nine.

István Hollik, Fidesz’s director of communications, said in reaction that “the left” was criticising a budget that would help families with children, respect pensioners by reintroducing the 13th month pension and protect jobs alongside creating new ones.

“The left wing that is attacking the 2021 budget is the same that already [drafted] a budget in a difficult situation like this one,”

Hollik said in reference to the 2008 financial crisis. “In 2009 they managed a crisis by plunging the country into debt, continuously raising taxes, reducing family benefits and gutting entrepreneurs and the entire public.”

Hungarian parliament passes climate protection law

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The Hungarian parliament on Wednesday passed a law on climate protection. A government official said after the vote that thanks to the government’s strategies, Hungary may achieve climate neutrality gradually by 2050 without endangering economic growth or burdening Hungarian households.

Péter Kaderják, a state secretary of the innovation and technology ministry, said the country is now poised to outperform its commitments on cutting greenhouse gas emissions in transport, waste management, agriculture and building energy by 2030.

Hungary‘s achievements in climate protection over the past thirty years show that economic growth, environmental protection and energy security are reconcilable goals, Kaderják said, citing data from 2018, when Hungary managed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 0.9 percent while maintaining economic growth of 5.1 percent.

Hungary supports the European Union’s objective of achieving full climate neutrality by 2050, he said.

But the emphasis should be on making big polluters pay the costs of a climate neutral economy and money should not be taken away from cohesion funds for that purpose, thereby depriving poorer countries of funding, he said.

Kaderják said the new legislation showed the government’s readiness to take action against climate change. Other measures in the field include this year’s energy and climate policy strategy and the climate and a nature-protection action plan announced by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the spring, he said.

Hungary’s climate and nature-protection action plan allocates 32 billion forints (EUR 92.6m) to SME’s transitioning to sustainable energy production.

It also plans to raise the capacity of solar plants six-fold, and supports the distribution and use of cheap electric cars.

From 2022, only e-busses will be newly deployed to city transport, he added.

The government aims to make 90 percent of Hungarian electricity production carbon free by 2030, by using mostly nuclear and solar energy, he said.

The opposition slammed the law and demanded the government set stricter goals than those outlined therein.

Erzsébet Schmuck, the deputy group leader of green LMP, called the vote “the shame of [ruling] Fidesz” and said that

the ruling parties had bowdlerised the opposition’s original proposal on the climate emergency.

LMP will continue to put pressure on the government to join EU goals setting stricter targets than those outlined in Hungarian law, she said.

The Párbeszéd party’s Bence Tordai said the ruling parties had stripped out all elements of the proposal that “would have made it worthwhile supporting”. However, “having a Hungarian climate protection law is a sort of success, regardless of the content,” he said.

The biggest opposition fraction Jobbik lawmaker Zoltán Magyar said

the issue of climate change carried such weight that “not even the government can sweep it under the rug”.

The Socialist Zita Gurmai said the government was unfit to handle the issue “because they don’t understand the danger the country is in”. The opposition does not support “window dressing”, she said.

Leftist Párbeszéd calls for minute of silence to mark Trianon centenary on Thursday – UPDATE

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The opposition Párbeszéd party has proposed that a minute of silence should be observed nationwide on Thursday, June 4, the 100th anniversary of the post-WWI Trianon Peace Treaty.

Olivio Kocsis-Cake, the party’s deputy group leader, told an online conference on Tuesday that

the proposal was unanimously supported by parliament’s national cohesion committee.

Under the treaty “several million Hungarians became subjects of other states, Hungary lost beautiful territories, as well as a large part of its industry and agriculture,” the deputy said.

Kocsis-Cake referred to Trianon as a “terrible disaster” but said that “the solution is not in the past; we must find a way to work together for a better future both inside the country and together with ethnic communities.”

He added that one of the best solutions would be a strong and unified European Union without internal borders.

Kocsis-Cake urged peaceful cooperation with neighbouring countries “without sending any messages that would suggest that Hungary is preparing to change its borders”.

According to the proposal, the minute of silence would be observed at 4:30pm on Thursday.

As we wrote before, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony (Párbeszéd party) has proposed that the city should “stop for a minute” on June 4, the 100th anniversary of the Trianon Peace Treaty concluding World War I, details HERE.

Meanwhile, the Budapest transport centre (BKK) said on Tuesday afternoon that public transport in the capital city will stop to observe a minute of silence at 4:30pm. This form of commemoration was proposed by Gergely Karácsony, the city’s mayor.

Hungary Trianon map
Read alsoWhat does Trianon mean to Hungarians today?

Opposition parties slam 2021 budget bill

Daily News Hungary economy

Hungarian opposition parties criticised the 2021 budget bill on Tuesday, saying it had been prepared hastily and fell short when it came to funding measures related to the novel coronavirus.

The Democratic Coalition (DK) said the bill was “meaningless” and lacked common sense or professionalism. DK’s deputy leader László Varju said in a statement that Viktor Orbán’s government had “systematically destroyed health care and the economy” while neglecting families and businesses ruined by the epidemic.

“Even now, on the verge of a crisis,” the 2021 budget bill contains items that “benefit the oligarchs”, such as rail developments and stadium construction, he added.

The bill still includes such priority projects as the Paks nuclear power station expansion, the Liget Project, the Budapest-Belgrade rail development and a new multifunctional sports and events hall in Budapest, he said.

Opposition Párbeszéd said the allocations for health care and economic protection were insufficient. Deputy group leader Sándor Burány told an online press conference that the Hungary’s budget bill had been hastily prepared and should have been submitted in the autumn instead.

The bill does not include sufficient allocations for measures to handle the effects of the novel coronavirus epidemic, he said.

Hospitals had been in an “appalling state” even before the epidemic, and doctors and nurses have “scandalously low salaries”, he said.

It is also “regrettable”, he said, that the budget bill had barely any funding for economic protection measures and instead supported investments that people close to the Fidesz government would benefit from. More money, he added, was needed to protect jobs and pay jobseekers’ benefits, he said.

Green LMP said it was too early to approve next year’s budget until the gravity of the epidemic’s economic impact became more clear. “The bill’s submission shows that the government is not at all serious about its contents and that it believes anything can be amended or reallocated anytime,” LMP co-leader Erzsébet Schmuck told an online press conference.

“The epidemic has proven that the Hungarian economy is not sustainable,” she insisted, saying that next year’s budget should serve a “green reconstruction”.

It should prioritise the creation of “green jobs”, preparation for a water shortage and droughts, the prevention of social crises, strengthening the social sector and a fairer distribution of resources and wealth, Schmuck said.

LMP proposes a 50 percent wage hike in the social and health sectors and believes that the state has a duty to support those who have lost their jobs, she said.

Hungarian parliament adopts declaration rejecting Istanbul Convention – UPDATE

Hungary parliament Budapest

Hungary’s parliament adopted a political declaration on Tuesday, sponsored by the Christian Democrats, on rejecting the Istanbul Convention.

Hungary signed the so-called Istanbul Convention (the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence) in 2014, but the legal instrument has not become part of the national law by parliamentary authorization

The co-ruling party said parliament should refuse to ratify the convention, citing definitions of gender it contains.

The declaration was adopted with 115 votes in favour, 35 against and three abstentions.

It calls on the government not to go any further in acceding to the convention and to lobby the European Union to do the same.

The declaration said the Council of Europe document takes an unacceptable approach to defining gender, and parliament should not incorporate this approach into national law.

Also the convention’s gender-based rules on asylum are not consistent with Hungary’s legal environment, which seeks to take effective action against illegal migration, the declaration said.

Meanwhile, the valuable parts of the convention when it comes to protecting children and taking action to counter violence against women are properly embedded in Hungary’s legal system, the declaration states.

After the vote, a group of women MPs protested against the rejection of the Convention at a joint press conference.

Tímea Szabó, group leader of Párbeszéd, accused the prime minister, the house speaker and governing Fidesz-KDNP of waging a war against women, adding that effective protections for women and children against violence would no longer be possible.

Andrea Varga-Damm, of the conservative Jobbik party, said

the government had a problem with women MPs sitting in parliament because “they show them a mirror every day”.

Zita Gurmai, deputy group leader of the Socialists, accused the government of lying when claiming that the Hungarian state would protect every victim of domestic violence. She called for a special support fund for victims to be established and for proper police training, as well as more shelter homes.

Ágnes Vadai, of the Democratic Coalition, called on her fellow MPs to resubmit to parliament their proposal on ratifying the convention.

Hungary parliament Budapest
Read alsoHungarian parliament adopts declaration rejecting Istanbul Convention – UPDATE

​​​Amnesty Insternational – Hungary: Blocking of domestic violence treaty further exposes women during COVID-19 crisis

Following the adoption of a declaration today by Hungary’s parliament not to ratify the Istanbul convention against violence against women, David Vig, Amnesty International’s Hungary Director, said:

“This decision is extremely dangerous coming at a time when reported domestic violence incidents in Hungary have doubled since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown. This not only puts women and girls at risk but sends a damaging message to perpetrators that their acts will not be prosecuted.”

“Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the government had failed to adequately prevent and combat violence against women, with a shameful record of investigations and prosecutions.”

“Spurious claims by the government that the Convention ‘supports illegal migration’ and ‘prescribes dangerous gender ideologies’ is an attempt to shift attention away from its own shortcomings from the tragic reality for women and girls living with abuse.”

“Hungary must revoke this declaration and ratify the Istanbul Convention as a matter of urgency and take all necessary steps to sufficiently protect women and girls from violence and domestic abuse, particularly in the current fight against the pandemic.”

Coronavirus – Opposition calls for cancellation of school-leaving exams

coronavirus distance education

The opposition Párbeszéd party has called on the government to cancel school-leaving exams, proposing that students should instead be offered grades based on their averages.

Addressing on online press conference, Párbeszéd deputy group leader Bence Tordai noted the exams are scheduled to begin on May 4, while Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said the novel coronavirus outbreak was expected to peak the day before.

“[Ruling] Fidesz is still refusing to listen to teachers, professional organisations and students despite warnings that it is extremely dangerous and irresponsible to organise the exams at this time,” Tordai insisted.

He said the government was putting the fate and health of a hundred thousand students and hundreds of thousands of others at risk by organising the exams, arguing that it could result in the emergence of up to 2,000 clusters of infections.

Tordai said students who wanted to improve their grades could be given the opportunity to take the exams, pointing out that this would affect “only a few thousand people”.

Coronavirus – Opposition slams Orbán economic protection plan

Daily News Hungary

Hungary’s opposition parties on Monday slammed the government’s economic protection measures in connection with the novel coronavirus epidemic as “inadequate and weak”.

At a press conference held by the Socialists, the Democratic Coalition (DK), Jobbik, Párbeszéd, LMP and Momentum parties, Jobbik’s György László Lukács said Hungarians’ interests would be best served if parliament passed legislation only related to protection efforts, “for example laws making face masks mandatory [in public] and providing the necessary supplies,” he said.

Lukács said the government bill before parliament “contains legislation that has nothing to do with protection efforts”. He decried government legislative attempts to make “a major investment confidential and help oligarchs expand their estates”.

Regarding measures announced by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Monday, Lukács said they were a “PR move” rather than a solution.

Socialist leader Bertalan Tóth welcomed the 500,000 forint (EUR 1,360) bonus for health-care workers, but said social workers, post office and retail employees also deserved protective gear and financial recognition.

Regarding the package of bills before parliament, Tóth insisted the prime minister was “exploiting the tragic situation” to give “land, money and privileges to his oligarchs”.

Gergely Arató, DK’s deputy group leader, called on the government to accept the European Union’s financial help and channel those resources towards protection efforts and helping those in difficult circumstances.

Párbeszéd’s Bence Tordai accused Orbán of “playing the dictator” and “throwing the constitution and the EU’s basic treaty under the bus” to deflect from how “small and weak” the protection plan was.

The priority should be to ease the suffering of the sick and those losing their jobs, he said, calling for the introduction of a basic income during states of emergency.

LMP’s Antal Csárdi said “weakening local authorities on the frontline of protection efforts” worked against the response efforts to the virus. Local authorities are using their own resources to take care of the elderly, patients in quarantine and potential virus carriers, he said, accusing the government of failure to provide funds.

Momentum spokesman Miklós Hajnal warned that the fate of those losing their jobs due to the epidemic was still uncertain, as was compensation for those losing most or all of their income.

Independent lawmaker Bernadett Szél called for a solidarity tax on people who profited from their connections to the government.

Szél also called for large investments to be halted and for the practice of “siphoning monies from the economy” and “government propaganda” to cease.

In response, ruling Fidesz called the opposition’s behaviour during the epidemic “outrageous” and “shameful”. While Hungarians’ lives and jobs are on the line due to the epidemic, “the opposition is still busy finding ways for opposition mayors and local authorities to avoid shouldering the tasks and costs weighing on everyone,” the party said in a statement.

Coronavirus – Jobbik demands Hungarian soldiers serving abroad return to Hungary

Orbán: Hungary has spent EUR 630.3m on epidemic response so far

ORBÁN Viktor parliament coronavirus

The government has so far spent 225 billion forints (EUR 630.3m) on buying protective equipment, building a container hospital and making other preparations in connection with the novel coronavirus epidemic, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in parliament on Monday.

Orbán dismissed a remark by conservative Jobbik’s Péter Jakab, who slammed the government’s epidemic response bill as the prime minister’s “coronation”. And responding to Democratic Coalition MP Gergely Arató’s criticism of the government’s handling of the epidemic, Orbán said: “Everyone should calm down. The government’s powers are no threat to you or democracy.”

The prime minister noted that 15 people have died from the virus so far, adding that their average age was 72. Altogether 447 people have been confirmed as testing positive for the virus in the country so far, 16 of whom have severe underlying illnesses. A total of 103 of the confirmed cases do not require treatment and 279 are asymptomatic, he said.

Hungary has “deployed the necessary hospital capacities for treating patients,” Orbán said.

So far, 13,301 samples have been tested in seven laboratories, he said. Orbán said Hungary had “nothing to be ashamed of” regarding its handling of the virus, arguing that the government had acted more swiftly to introduce the necessary response measures than many other countries.

Coronavirus – Chief medical officer: Hungary has seen a rise in confirmed Covid-19 cases but…

Responding to a question from the Socialist Party’s Tamás Harangozó as to whether the government would use its emergency powers to raise wages in the health-care and social sectors and advance pensioners their payments, Orbán said the government will outline Hungary‘s “most comprehensive economic stimulus action plan of all time” on April 6 or 7.

Asked whether the government would uphold the state of emergency after the epidemic subsides in order to stabilise the economy, Orbán said that under the law passed on Monday, he personally would “not have the power to extend anything”.

The prime minister stressed that parliament alone would have the power to decide when the state of emergency ends.

Reacting to the opposition Párbeszéd party’s questions on whether the government planned compensation for anyone who loses their job or earns below 100,000 forints (EUR 280), Orbán said the government was working to ensure jobs and “decent wages”, and the action plan being drawn up would mean “everyone will have a job”.

Orbán said that since coming to power in 2010, the Fidesz government had “very nearly made good on its promise” to create one million jobs in ten years, yet, he added, the opposition just sneered at the promise at the time.

Green LMP’s László Lóránt Keresztes called on the prime minister to provide information and resources for local authorities facing new tasks due to coronavirus. Orbán said the local epidemic response bodies are the forums for local leaders to disseminate information and make decisions.

Asked by Jobbik MP György László Lukács about the anticipated duration of the epidemic, Orban said it was “impossible to say”.

The priority, Orbán said, is to slow down the spread of the virus in order to ease pressure on the health-care system.

Regarding infections among health-care staff, Orbán said infected doctors were being replaced by resident doctors for the most part, and those above 65 were being separated from Covid-19 patients. In answer to another question, Orbán said infections of health-care staff “are to be expected”.

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Read alsoThe genetic diversity of Hungarians might help overcome infections?

Coronavirus – Opposition demands inclusion of timeframe in epidemic response bill

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Hungary’s opposition parties on Monday said they would not support the government’s bill on the response to the novel coronavirus epidemic unless a timeframe was included in the legislation.

Tamás Harangozó, group leader of the Socialist Party, told a joint press conference that

the opposition would only support the proposal to grant the government extra powers if the legislation stipulates the end date for an extended state of emergency.

Tímea Szabó, co-leader of Párbeszed, said her party would support joint efforts against the virus, “but not [Prime Minister] Viktor Orbán’s unrestricted power”. She argued that no government in Europe had appealed for unlimited power. The government could get the requested authorisation but not without a time restriction, she said.

Conservative Jobbik’s MP László György Lukács said his party “believes in the strictest measures when democracy is protected, too”, and warned that parliament’s controls over the government should be maintained. Parliament should “hear the voice of those that say that

Orbán must not use the epidemic to build a kingdom”,

he said, adding that parliament’s operations were a fundamental requirement for democracy.

László Varju, deputy leader of the Democratic Coalition, said that the proposed law “must not stay in effect till the end of time”. The proposed authorisations should be “justified and proportionate”, and should ensure an opportunity for the opposition to appeal to the Constitutional Court, he said, adding that the legislation must not curb media freedoms.

Antal Csárdi, an MP of green LMP, said that his party also insisted on including a time limit, adding that such a restriction would not reduce the efficiency of the government’s measures.

Momentum spokesman Miklós Hajnal said that

“eliminating parliament would equal eliminating democracy”.

He added that “no other country has requested such broad authorisations as Orbán desires”. He insisted that the government was looking to “use a false claim to do in democracy”, and argued that both the European Parliament and Romania’s parliament have now introduced online sessions.

Coronavirus – Opposition to deny limitless powers from Orbán government

Hungary-parliament-2020-March

As the opposition does not trust Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government, it will not grant it special powers for an indefinite period of time, the opposition parties said on Tuesday.

The opposition on Monday voted against the government’s epidemic response bill because the legislation failed to set a time limit for maintaining the state of emergency.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, the Democratic Coalition (DK), the Socialists, Parbeszed, Jobbik, green LMP, Momentum and the Liberals, along with independent lawmakers Bernadett Szél and Ákos Hadházy, called Orbán’s government “unfit” to handle the crisis.

“The government sees Hungarians and their elected representatives as adversaries to overcome rather than partners,” they said.

The opposition, in turn, sees a need for acting, planning and making decisions together. The government, however, denies millions of Hungarians and their representatives to do so, they said.

“The epidemic is our shared enemy, but the remains of our oft-ravaged liberty and democracy are our shared treasure. We have to defend what’s left of our country even as we protect our health and lives,” the opposition said.

Opposition votes against deviating from house rules

Daily News Hungary

The opposition on Monday voted against deviating from house rules in connection with the parliamentary debate on the law against protective measures against the novel coronavirus epidemic.

Accordingly, the earliest the bill can be approved in a fast-tracked procedure will be in six days’ time.

The proposal to deviate from house rules — which would have needed four-fifth majority to pass — was supported by 137 lawmakers from the ruling Fidesz and Christian Democrat parties, national minority representatives and four MPs of the Mi Hazánk party.

Fully 52 lawmakers voted against, namely opposition Jobbik, Socialist, Democratic Coalition, LMP and Párbeszéd lawmakers and four independents.

The opposition said they voted against the bill because it does not contain a time limit for maintaining the state of emergency.

The proposal to fast-track the bill, which needed two-thirds majority support to pass, was supported with 152 votes for and 31 against.

The government announced a state of emergency from 3pm on March 11. Under the constitution, this is restricted to 15 days unless parliament extends it.

Justice Minister Judit Varga submitted a bill on behalf of the government last Friday, which needs two-thirds majority support to pass, enabling the government to take every measure that serves to protect citizens and guarantee the stability of the national economy in response to the novel coronavirus epidemic. The bill also includes introducing stricter regulations in the penal code against anyone who violates quarantine rules or commits scaremongering.

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Read alsoCoronavirus – Hungary death toll rises to 7!

Coronavirus – Opposition slams Orbán’s remarks on containment measures in schools

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Opposition parties on Friday slammed Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s remarks regarding necessary measures in schools amid the new coronavirus outbreak.

Socialist lawmaker Ágnes Kunhalmi, the deputy head of parliament’s educational committee, insisted that Orbán had “threatened” teachers with placing them on unpaid leave in case of a comprehensive school shutdown.

Kunhalmi noted that Hungary declared a national “state of emergency” and introduced a “special legal order” on Wednesday. In such a situation, the government has the power to deviate from legislature, she said.

The government has the power under the “special legal order” to impart legislation acknowledging a shortened academic year as full, she said. Likewise, the government has the power to place teachers on paid leaves in case of a shutdown, she said.

Money to pay the teachers for the period in question had been included in the 2020 budget, Kunhalmi said. There is no reason to strip them of paid leave, she added.

Kunhalmi called it a “stupid argument” that schools should remain open because children are “not involved” in the epidemic. Children can also contract the virus and infect others, she said. Keeping schools open in the current situation is “risky”, she said.

Kunhalmi also noted that in the case of a confirmed Covid-19 patient, no tests were conducted on the patient’s child, family and the child’s class in a Budapest high school. Kunhalmi called on the government not to “skimp” on tests for the virus.

At another, online press conference, a lawmaker of the Párbeszéd party said the government should prolong the spring break in schools and bring its date ahead to double as a containment measure.

Bence Tordai called on the government to consult trade unions on procedures for the remaining academic year and possibly on reducing the work load in schools.

He called on the government to ensure full wages for teaching staff and “stop threatening them with completely baseless ideas like an unpaid leave.”

Tordai insisted the government was dragging its foot on a shutdown because its primary concern was GDP growth and not people’s health.

He called on the government to develop an “action plan to protect society”, to modify this year’s and review next year’s budget.

Tordai proposed that parents keep their children home on their own responsibility, despite a government ban on such actions.

“Parents can be smarter and wiser than the government … let us start a movement of civil disobedience, if you like,” he said.

Párbeszéd will submit an action plan of its own to parliament next week, Tordai said. The party is proposing a hike to minimum pensions and fostered workers’ wages and raising the family allowance for single parents and large families, he said.

Conservative opposition Jobbik deputy leader Balázs Ander urged shutting down schools to combat the spread of the virus. This move has already been made in two dozens of countries, including 15 of the 28 European Union members and the other three countries of the Visegrád Group, Ander told a press conference. He cited the Italian model to continue paying teachers their wages and said the introduction of remote education could prevent the high number of cancelled classes which would make it necessary for pupils to repeat the year.

The leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) called on the government to shut down schools and kindergartens possibly within the next few days. Deputy group leader Gergely Arato argued that school closures in the early phases of an epidemic could considerably slow down the spread of the virus. He added that even a longer break would not necessitate repeating the whole school year. He urged government measures to help parents work from home, as well as financial aid to parents forced to take days off work.

Arató said that suggestions that teachers should be sent on unpaid leave are “baseless”, adding that if a break is ordered by the government, teachers are entitled to their salaries.

Arató also called for arrangements to ensure that poor children continue receiving free meals each day.

Teachers’ trade union PDSZ called on the government to order a school break effective Monday in an open letter addressed to the operative board. Hungary should follow the practice already introduced in the majority of neighbouring countries, the letter said. If such a measure is not introduced, then schools where any of the pupils, teachers or staff get the virus should be able to close in a one-off procedure, the letter said. If the government fails not react to any of the proposals, then PDSZ will encourage parents to keep their children at home under a notice they are entitled to issue which proves that the child has a genuine reason for absence, the trade union said.