Opposition Calls for Next Hungarian President to be Elected by Citizens
- 15 Feb 2024 5:22 AM
- Hungary Matters
The opposition Jobbik-Conservatives have said they are calling an extraordinary session of parliament to propose a bill on directly electing the president of the republic.
The right-wing party last year proposed to MPs changing how the head of state is elected, but the ruling Fidesz majority voted it down, Brenner Koloman, who is Jobbik’s mayoral candidate for the capital, told a press conference on Sunday.
Noting the outcry over Katalin Novák’s decision to pardon the deputy director of a children’s home who was found complicit in child abuse, he said it would have been preferable had a president been elected by Hungarian citizens rather than by Fidesz MPs, adding that a figure who truly embodied the unity of the nation should be elected as head of state.
Mi Hazánk Nominates Economist Magdolna Csath for Hungary President
The opposition Mi Hazank has named economist Magdolna Csath as their nominee for Hungary’s next president, according to a social media post published by party leader László Toroczkai.
“It is high time Hungary’s president is no longer a political party stalwart,” Toroczkai said, adding that Csath “meets that requirement”.
Csath’s career has earned her “broad recognition”, Toroczkai said, suggesting that she could be supported by the other parties.
LMP to Nominate Uni Professor Hack for Hungary's Next President
Opposition LMP will nominate university professor and lawyer Peter Hack for the post of Hungary’s next president, Péter Ungár, the party’s co-leader said.
Ungár said on Facebook that he would contact all lawmakers about their proposal in a letter. A joint nomination of Hack would enable Hungary to have a president representing the unity of the nation, and one who guards the rule of law and the constitutional order, he said.
Hack has been a teacher at Budapest’s ELTE university for 41 years, and his areas of research include judicial independence, the organisation and operation of justice administration, the enforcement of human rights in criminal procedures, and the legal means of fighting corruption, he said.
Hack has political experience, too, but he is not a party politician, Ungár added.
He noted that Hack had served as an MP from 1990 until 2002 when he retired from politics.
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