Taking advantage of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, has been granted extraordinary powers by the Hungarian parliament. This was done through a recent bill passage that allows the authoritarian leader rule by decree with the ability to bypass parliament for an indefinite amount of time.
Following the declaration of a state of emergency on March 11, the country’s parliament introduced the “Emergency Ordinance Act.”
The Act, which provides Orban with sole control of all spheres of power in Hungary, allows the Prime Minister to suspend parliament indefinitely, with decrees simply passed to the president of parliament. The government can “suspend the application of individual laws, deviate from legal provisions and take other extraordinary measures.” It is given the right to “suspend the application of certain laws by decree” and “introduce other exceptional measures to guarantee the stability of life, health, the personal and material security of citizens and the economy,” the bill reads.
The bill also states that while the new legislation remains in place, no elections can be held in Hungary, with Orban having the power to suspend the enforcement of certain laws. Also, individuals who publicly make statements that are deemed “untrue” and could interfere with the protection of the public or “agitate a large number of people,” are set to face jail time in Hungary.
Set to go into full effect on Tuesday, the bill was approved by the Senate with 137 votes in its favour and 53 votes against it.
Speaking to Politico, Marta Pardavi, co-chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a human rights NGO, criticized the bill saying: “Civil society, journalists and international and European organizations will have to step up their efforts even more in this new situation to ensure that the potential for grave abuses by government overreach are monitored, documented and responded to.” She also added that “it’s now essential that the idea that executive power cannot be unlimited is reinforced by action.”
