Vona calls for inserting ‘anti-corruption’ measures into constitution

Budapest, January 18 (MTI) – The Jobbik party wants the importance of fighting corruption to be written into Hungary’s constitution, its leader Gábor Vona said on Wednesday.

Vona told a news conference that Jobbik will submit a related proposal to parliament in February.

He said he regarded the issue of combatting corruption as “a basic pillar of government” and Jobbik will also submit an anti-corruption package of bills, including those seeking compulsory investigations into the wealth of politicians, the uncovering of secrets related to economic crimes and the establishment of an anti-corruption prosecutor. In addition, Jobbik wants a light shone on the financial situation of firms awarded larger sums in public procurement contracts, he said.

Vona said that people in public life should receive double the sentence of an ordinary person if they commit a crime.

Graft is not just the biggest problem facing Hungary because it deprives the treasury of money but also because there is a ripple effect which, for example, leads to emigration, the Jobbik leader said. If businesses close to the government acquire the economic resources, making the other companies less competitive, there is an effect on wages too, he added.

Vona decried the mentality that the government was not here to serve its citizens but to rule over them. The problem, he said, reached into the sphere of the media, which he said served the government because it must comply with people with a political and media background who are corrupt. “If a journalist knows something about corruption but does not file a complaint, then he assists and hides that,” he said.

Addressing internal party issues, Vona said he had been voted a mandate to lead the party until 2018. He said there may be a desire on the part of some for greater dissent but Jobbik was stable and progressing along its own path.

Asked about reports that the Magyar Gárda, banned paramilitary outfit associated with Jobbik, had demanded that Vona return his uniform jacket which he had worn in Parliament when taking his oath in 2010, he denied any such demand had been made, adding that the uniform was in his possession, and if they asked for it he would refuse to hand it over.

Source: MTI