A shameful verdict: The Court finds the new Budapest electoral law consitutional
Now that Viktor Orbán has seen the light and convinced Péter Szentmihályi Szabó to shelve his ambitions to be the next Hungarian ambassador to Rome, I am returning to the domestic scene, which is not...
View ArticleA minor miracle: nine parties support Márton Gulyás’s electoral reform plan
Yesterday’s post turned out to be quite controversial. It reported on a poll that showed what we have suspected for some time: that Hungarians who were born in the country and who currently live and...
View ArticleAnother miracle: Eight-party working document on Hungary’s electoral system
Today seems an appropriate time to look at much needed changes to the Hungarian electoral law. The German polls just closed, and yesterday eight Hungarian left-of-center opposition parties agreed to...
View Article“Observer”: Inappropriate “guidance” by the National Election Commission
Last week the NEC issued guidance re the application of Sec. 254 of the Electoral Procedure Law of 12013 XXXVI (EPL). The opposition parties are protesting, claiming the action illegal, but there is no...
View ArticleFidesz-created bogus parties as means of political gain
In late 2011, when the Fidesz two-thirds majority in parliament pushed through a radically new electoral law, the party’s legal expert, Gergely Gulyás, hailed it as an outstanding example of democracy...
View ArticleSubmission and fear everywhere
I’m covering two topics connected to the 2018 election. Both are essential in order to understand the electoral process as it functions in Viktor Orbán’s Hungary. The first is campaign financing and...
View ArticleA look behind the election results
Former German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble, who currently holds the position of president of the Bundestag, according to MTI expressed his belief that because Viktor Orbán received “very...
View ArticleViktor Orbán at work: New amendments, new tricks
Yesterday I covered aspects of a legislative proposal by Justice Minister Judit Varga relative to the patriotic and Christian upbringing of children and the stricture that a child has the right to have...
View ArticleHalve the local business tax, squeeze the Hungarian opposition
Ever since October 13, 2019, the day of the Hungarian municipal elections, the chief domestic goal of Viktor Orbán has been to prevent the recurrence of the humiliating electoral defeat that boded ill...
View ArticleOpposition parties: jostling before unifying
It takes a certain amount of courage to venture into the exceedingly complicated world of opposition party politics in Hungary. I have been postponing it for some time, but recent criticism of the...
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