On Monday, Parliament made far-reaching decisions at the start of its spring session. It approved the ratification of Sweden’s accession to NATO and elected the highest constitutional judge Tamás Sulyok as the new president.
At the beginning of the first meeting in the calendar year 2024, however, there was traditionally a statement from the Prime Minister. Viktor Orbán asked MPs to support Fidesz’s candidate for president as well as the draft resolution for Sweden to join NATO. On the subject of child protection, he explained that in Hungary “zero tolerance” also applies in this area, which specifically means that “our children enjoy absolute and comprehensive protection”.
The only right decision
Anyone who commits crimes once morest children must be punished and serve their sentence without any quarter or pardon. The government’s conclusion from the scandal is to investigate all heads of child protection institutions. Orbán said once more that President Katalin Novák made the only right decision by resigning following the pardon scandal. By immediately electing her successor, Hungary is proving its strength and stability.
The Prime Minister attested that the candidate for the office of President, Tamás Sulyok, “has a huge wealth of experience, considerable knowledge and an authority that is beyond any doubt”. Orbán claimed that the decisions of the Constitutional Court led by Tamás Sulyok in recent years “have shown a clear path, in accordance with the opinion of lawyers and citizens.”
Provocation with Navalny
At the start of the debate, Párbeszéd politician Bence Tordai asked parliament to observe a minute’s silence for Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny. The government, the Fidesz-KDNP and the Mi Hazánk factions did not comply with this request, whereupon the left-wing opposition politician was outraged that the forces paid by Putin had failed to show their respect for the man who died in Russian custody is. (Later in the debate, the Prime Minister thanked the members of the ruling parties for not giving in to the provocation. “The Hungarian parliament pays no respect to a chauvinist who called Georgians rats. We do not rise in remembrance, but may Navalny rest in peace,” Orbán responded.)
DK: “His faith is just a facade”
For Momentum, its new parliamentary group leader Dávid Bedő explained that a country is still waiting for answers as to who the real people responsible in the pardon scandal are. The Prime Minister “preferred to push Katalin Novák and Judit Varga under the bus so as not to have to take responsibility himself.”
In this spirit, former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány directly attacked Viktor Orbán by calling him “Hungary’s first pedophile-friendly prime minister”. The DK chairman repeatedly quoted from the Bible and accused Orbán that his faith was just a facade, “because we have not yet heard an apology to the children who were victims of crimes.”
“The scandal surrounding the President shows that the power structures created by Viktor Orbán have become untenable,” said László György Lukács for Jobbik. Instead of concentrating more and more power, it would have to be handed over from the Carmelite monastery in the castle (the official residence of the Prime Minister) to the community of citizens.
Hypocritical behavior
Mi Hazánk leader László Toroczkai cited half a dozen examples of the government parties’ hypocritical behavior. So when it came to Sweden’s accession to NATO, only “the usual theater was staged in order to really dupe everyone.” His party would like to take this opportunity to find out how much the four additional Gripen fighter jets will cost taxpayers.
MSZP leader Bertalan Tóth spoke of a “crisis in the Fidesz regime” and said the Orbán government had lost any moral basis to lead the country. Regarding the delayed ratification of the Swedes’ accession to NATO, the socialist noted that allies are found on the basis of the same system of values, not through barter.
Sweden’s NATO membership ratified
Parliament accepted the resignation of President Katalin Novák with 196 votes in favor, without any votes once morest or abstentions. Parliament President László Kövér will temporarily take on her duties. With 188 yes votes once morest 6 no votes from the right-wing Mi Hazánk, Parliament then approved the law promulgating the protocol on Sweden’s accession to NATO.
New President elected
Then parliament elected the new president in a secret vote; The only candidate was Tamás Sulyok, nominated by the governing parties. The President of the Constitutional Court received 134 votes and thus obviously exclusively the votes of the government camp, which, as is well known, has a two-thirds majority in Parliament. There were only 5 votes once morest in the secret vote, but no abstentions. The majority of MPs on the opposition benches did not take part in the procedure; the DK, Momentum, MSZP, Párbeszéd and Jobbik factions demonstratively left the meeting room. Sulyok will officially take office as Katalin Novák’s successor on March 5th.
Harsche Kritik an Sulyok
Mi Hazánk sharply criticized the new president, who “might not show any outstanding professional achievements on his CV”. Tamás Sulyok went from being a lawyer with “good relations with Fidesz” to becoming a constitutional judge and finally president of the Constitutional Court. In this role, he collaborated with the government in scandalous cases by taking a stand once morest the interests of foreign currency borrowers, agreeing to repeated extensions of the danger situation due to the pandemic and war, approving the mandatory requirement for corona vaccinations and participating in the discrimination once morest unvaccinated people, restricted the right to assembly and the right to strike and allowed the KATA flat rate tax for small companies to be abolished overnight. “This man is a disgrace for the Orbán system,” explained Mi Hazánk deputy Előd Novák, because Tamás Sulyok is the best proof that in today’s Hungary it is not talented, well-respected personalities who rise, but only political contacts that count.
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