Hungary is a member of the European Union, but the country is sleepwalking into an authoritarian state, argue Tamas Dezso Czigler and Izolda Takacs. In their second of three articles for EUROPP, they argue that the new governing coalition has overhauled the country’s electoral and judicial system, violated the independence of the Hungarian central bank and invaded citizens’ private lives

Dezso Czigler, Tamas

Takacs, Izolda

English

LSE Research Online

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, CreativeCommons: BY NC NDblogs.lse.ac.uk http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2012/05/17/hungary-authoritarian-2/With the ruling party’s legislative tsunami, Hungary may nowbe sleepwalking into an authoritarian state.May 17 2012Hungary is a member of the European Union, but the country is sleepwalking into anauthoritarian state, argue Tamas Dezso Czigler and Izolda Takacs. In their second of threearticles for EUROPP, they argue that the new governing coalition has overhauled thecountry’s electoral and judicial system, violated the independence of the Hungarian centralbank and invaded citizens’ private lives.In our last article, we outlined how Hungary has undergone a transition into a ‘distorteddemocracy’ since the election of Viktor Orbán’s right-wing Fidesz party in 2010. Since then,there has been a legislative’ tsunami’ and a “re-interpretation” of the principle of checks andbalances in Hungary.In the two years since coming to power, the government has made several changes to thebasic structure of Hungary’s governance. They quickly adopted a new constitution, eventhough the public was not even aware that one had been planned. No one knows whoauthored this document; since there was no consultation with scholars, NGOs or otherentities, and the resulting text feels anachronistic – it starts with the phrase “God blessHungary”, the opening line of the Hungarian national anthem, but oddly without the quotationmarks. This dated attitude extends throughout, reintroducing long-forgotten legal concepts and curbing someessential rights: for example, no citizen may now turn to the Hungarian Constitutional Court if a right codifiedin the Constitution is harmed unless there is a personal interest (i.e. “actio popularis” is longer universallyavailable).The electoral system has also been overhauled: alongside a radical reduction in the numberof parliamentarians, smaller constituencies were created in areas where Fidesz has a majority and largerones where other parties are more popular. Under the new system, the governing party can win an overallmajority far more easily than before, and had it been applied over the last three elections, it would haveresulted in three straight Fidesz victories, in contrast with their actual results. Mandates for ConstitutionalCourtjudges have also been extended from 9 to 12 years – once again favouring the government, despite thesupposedly “government-loyal” judges adopting a decision protesting against any accusation of such bias.Other crucial laws have also changed. A new medialaw was implemented: all media (television, print andradio) is monitored and governed by a commissionconsisting exclusively of delegates from the governingparty. In one of the latest scandals, an opposition-friendly radio station with about 500,000 regularlisteners failed to get its broadcasting license(frequency) renewed. Later, due to procedural issues,the decision was revoked in court.New laws were adopted governing the maximumretirement age of judges: the limit was reduced from 70to 62 years (the general retirement age is 65 years).Hence about 300 judges, including the heads of courtscan be sent into retirement. About 25% of judges at theSupreme Court of Hungary are affected.“Spearheading” the body of judges is a new, powerfuloffice, presided over by the wife of one of the governingparty’s strongmen. The independence of the central bank (Hungarian National Bank) was also been violated,with the introduction of a new structure and a new governing committee heavy with government delegates,while assets of regional (county-level) municipalities have been nationalized.The tsunami has also reached everyday life and the private sector. The government has drastically tightenedthe conditions required for a community to be recognised as a church by the state, and to be eligible for statesupport, leading to intense lobbying by churches to be allowed to retain their status. It is as if the governmentwere granting feudalistic rights to its dependents. Since the top Hungarian university for business studies andpublic service (Corvinus University) is well known for its liberal and “free thinking” attitude, the governmenthas cut out a part of the university by passing a special law, creating the National University of Public Service– operating under the “personal guidance” of the Minister of Public Administration and Justice. Rumoursabound about further slicing up of the rest of the university, which could lead to it losing its independence andinfluence.The government has also abolished the independent commission that used to monitor and overseeuniversities (Hungarian Accreditation Committee – MAB), the Minister of Culture and Education now preferringto directly award (or not) titles and positions such as professorships by himself. State support for universitiesis also discriminative: currently, only one state university and – unsurprisingly – one Christian university are toreceive state funding for legal education.As an incursion into the arts scene, the government pressured the mayor of Budapest to replace certaintheatre directors: this is how a writer and an actor who openly supports the anti-Semitic Jobbik party came tolead a theatre located in the middle of a traditional Jewish quarter ofB udapest. The appointment of othertheatre directors is politicised as well.As a response to the threat of numerous popular protests in Budapest, the government tactically reserved allsizeable public squares in Budapest on national holidays hereby in an attempt to hamper oppositiongatherings.Lastly, the tide of change has also reached the economy. The former system of mandatory private pensionswas nationalized by the state – gaining private savings of approximately €10 billion. A new state-pushed “foodvoucher” (the so called “Erzsébet Voucher”) was introduced to drive international firms such as Sodexo out ofthe market. In the future, state aid and family support may be paid using vouchers, with the governmentopining that this will ensure that the beneficiaries do not spend state money on cigarettes and drinking. As anadded twist, these vouchers can only be used in Hungarian owned supermarkets, with Tesco a late addition.Moreover, there is another discriminating type of the new vouchers called SZÉP kártya (SZÉP Card), whichis used as a voucher for holiday purposes. However, it can not be used at branches of foreign companies. Acommunity work programme has been introduced, in which people after a period of unemployed must workfor the government for an extremely low salary if they want to receive state aid. To top it all off, thegovernment is moving into the private sector: a state owned mobile telecoms provider will be created to servegovernment agencies and municipalities – just as it did during Communism.Please read our comments policy before commenting.Note:  This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of EUROPP – European Politics andPolicy, nor of the London School of Economics.Shortened URL for this post: http://bit.ly/JVo3ch_________________________________________About the AuthorsTamas Dezso Czigler- Institute for Legal Studies of the Centre for Social Sciences,Hungarian Academy of SciencesTamas Dezso Czigler is a research fellow at the Institute for Legal Studies of the Centre forSocial Sciences at theHungarianAcademyof Sciences. Furthermore, he is an assistantprofessor at National University of Public Service. He is particularly interested in Europeancommercial law, private international law and comparative contract law.Izolda Takacs - University of Pécs, HungaryIzolda Takacs is a permament visiting lecturer and PhD student at the University of Pécs(Hungary). She has published studies in gender studies, specifically on womens’ role inpolitics, women rights, and the effect of history and art to the present society.Related posts:1. Hungary is now a distorted democracy2. Five minutes with Taras Kuzio: “Ukraine is sleepwalking into an authoritarian state. Weare in a dangerous situation.”3. In Hungary Viktor Orban adds the EU to his lengthening list of ‘enemies of the state’This entry was posted in East Europe, Izolda Takacs, Tamas Dezso Czigler and tagged constitution,elections, government, Hungary, laws, Victor Orban. Bookmark the permalink.

With the ruling party’s legislative tsunami, Hungary may now be sleepwalking into an authoritarian state

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