Members of Parliament elect a Prime Minister following a proposal from the President of the Republic. The election of the Prime Minister shall be subject to a majority vote of the Members of Parliament. The Prime Minister shall take office on the day of his or her election. In addition to this, the Prime Minister chairs cabinet meetings and ensures the implementation of government decisions.
The Government shall be formed through the appointment of Ministers. Members of the Government shall swear an oath before Parliament. Who deputises for the Prime Minister? The Prime Minister may nominate one or more deputy prime ministers, chosen from the members of the Cabinet. From to there were two deputy prime ministers, who carried out specific tasks in addition to deputising for the Prime Minister in certain cases as specified by him. The problem with this approach is that it takes time, by which point action may be too little, too late.
Read: A letter from wartime France. Europe has been at the center of this health crisis, with countries such as France, Italy, and Spain struggling to cope.
Yet it is undoubtedly also an existential crisis for the EU. Perhaps a better question than what the EU should be doing to prevent Hungary undermining democracy, is whether the bloc is even capable of doing so. Skip to content Site Navigation The Atlantic. Popular Latest. The Atlantic Crossword. Some issues are unique to Hungary, and cannot be compared to measures in any other EU member state or any other country in the world.
The Hungarian law violates the Hungarian Constitution in many ways — a constitution which, by the way, was approved in only with the votes of the current government. The law was not only unconstitutional, but also unnecessary. The Hungarian legal system provides a sufficient basis to deal with the coronavirus. So even if the Hungarian government argues that 20 EU member states introduced emergency laws, the Hungarian one was simply not necessary.
It is only there to give the government unlimited power without a time limit. Read more: Coronavirus: A stress test for democracy. Halmai is a professor for comparative constitutional law and was formerly chief adviser to the president of the Hungarian Constitutional Court.
Since early April, over 80 decrees have been issued. An early one changed the labor law, abandoning all protection for employees. One of the most recent examples is a decree that suspends EU data protection regulations. Furthermore, all hospitals and about state and private companies have come under military control. These organizations' leadership can only make business decisions with the approval of military personnel. The government even changed one company's entire management by decree.
This has not happened in any other EU member state and is a blatant violation of both Hungarian and EU law. Government officials have repeatedly stressed that the Hungarian Parliament could withdraw the emergency powers law at any time. However, the governing coalition controls the majority of the seats in parliament. How could Parliament repeal the law? The Hungarian government's argument is very tricky.
I do not remember any occasion in the last decade in which parliament voted against any important government proposition. That means there is no chance that this parliament, led by Fidesz with its two-thirds majority, will oppose any government measures.
And to revoke the law, a two-thirds majority is needed. So even if the current government were to lose its supermajority due to by-elections and or the death of a lawmaker — which I certainly do not wish for — the law could not be revoked. Could Hungary's Constitutional Court intervene to ensure that the government does not exploit its new powers even further?
Other democratic countries in the EU have checks and balances beyond the parliament, which may not be able to control the government: there are constitutional courts, supreme courts or presidents. In the case of Hungary, all the members of the Constitutional Court are nominated and elected by Fidesz. They never rule against the government on any serious political issue. The president is one of the founders of Fidesz, and a good friend of Orban. He signed the enabling act in only two hours.
That's how long it took him to investigate whether the law is politically and constitutionally acceptable. How would this president oppose anything this government does?
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