Hungary’s ruling Tisza party has submitted constitutional amendments to parliament for a vote that would limit prime ministers to eight years in office, barring a return to power for former Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Reuters reports.
New Prime Minister Peter Magyar, who defeated Orban in April’s election after 16 years in power, has said he will use his party’s majority in parliament to reverse changes to the law introduced by Fidesz. Magyar’s aim is to restore accountability and democracy to the country’s political system.
According to the draft law published on the parliament’s website, people who have previously served more than eight years as prime minister can no longer be elected to the position. This will apply to those who held office after the 2nd of May, 1990.
The amendments pave the way for the dissolution of the Office for the Protection of Sovereignty,
established by Orbán in 2023. It was an institution that listed media outlets deemed a threat to Hungarian sovereignty and had the power to investigate activities that undermined the country’s sovereignty.
Based on the bill, the Hungarian government would also regain control of so-called public interest asset management funds, which support nearly 20 universities, and the government would have the power to dissolve these funds. In that case, billions of forints worth of funds that Orbán has allocated to these funds would return to the state. The bill states that although the funds are private foundations, their funds are state funds.
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