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Hungary to consider bill that would allow Orban to rule by decree
Source: The Guardian
Hungary to consider bill that would allow Orbán to rule by decree
Government says legislation is a necessary response to coronavirus but critics fear it is open to abuse
Shaun Walker in Budapest
Mon 23 Mar 2020 12.27 GMT
First published on Mon 23 Mar 2020 05.00 GMT
Hungary’s parliament will consider an emergency bill this week that would give prime minister Viktor Orbán sweeping powers to rule by decree, without a clear cut-off date.
The bill seeks to extend the state of emergency declared earlier this month over coronavirus, and could also see people jailed for spreading information deemed to be fake news. The government has portrayed the move as a necessary response to the unprecedented challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, but critics immediately labelled the legislation as dangerously open-ended and vulnerable to abuse.
“You can’t have a completely unrestricted mandate for the government,” said Márta Pardavi, co-chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee. “The current draft does exactly that. It basically gives an open-ended carte-blanche mandate.”
On Sunday, four Hungarian NGOs, including the Helsinki Committee, called on the government to provide a sunset clause to the emergency measures and broaden the scope for constitutional challenges to future decrees enacted within it.
The new law would also introduce prison terms of up to five years for anyone publicising false information that alarms the public or impedes government efforts to protect people. It caused disquiet among independent journalists, who have often been accused by the government and its loyal stable of media outlets of peddling fake news.
-snip-
Government says legislation is a necessary response to coronavirus but critics fear it is open to abuse
Shaun Walker in Budapest
Mon 23 Mar 2020 12.27 GMT
First published on Mon 23 Mar 2020 05.00 GMT
Hungary’s parliament will consider an emergency bill this week that would give prime minister Viktor Orbán sweeping powers to rule by decree, without a clear cut-off date.
The bill seeks to extend the state of emergency declared earlier this month over coronavirus, and could also see people jailed for spreading information deemed to be fake news. The government has portrayed the move as a necessary response to the unprecedented challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, but critics immediately labelled the legislation as dangerously open-ended and vulnerable to abuse.
“You can’t have a completely unrestricted mandate for the government,” said Márta Pardavi, co-chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee. “The current draft does exactly that. It basically gives an open-ended carte-blanche mandate.”
On Sunday, four Hungarian NGOs, including the Helsinki Committee, called on the government to provide a sunset clause to the emergency measures and broaden the scope for constitutional challenges to future decrees enacted within it.
The new law would also introduce prison terms of up to five years for anyone publicising false information that alarms the public or impedes government efforts to protect people. It caused disquiet among independent journalists, who have often been accused by the government and its loyal stable of media outlets of peddling fake news.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/23/hungary-to-consider-bill-that-would-allow-orban-to-rule-by-decree