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Hungary Protesters Oppose Ousting Pres.07/10 06:18
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) -- Opponents of the Hungarian government's efforts to
oust the country's president gathered for a protest in the capital Budapest on
Thursday after being called to action by the former autocratic prime minister,
Viktor Orbn.
The protest drew several thousand people to the presidential offices at the
opulent Sndor Palace in Budapest's Castle District, where demonstrators spoke
out in defense of President Tams Sulyok, whom the new center-right government
has vowed to remove from office with a constitutional amendment.
After defeating Orbn in a blowout election in April, bringing an end to his
16 years in power, Hungary's new pro-European prime minister, Pter Magyar, has
taken action to dismantle what he calls Orbn's "mafia" by removing numerous
political appointees and heads of institutions viewed as having facilitated
Orbn's autocratic regime.
The constitutional amendment, set to go to a vote next week, would end
Sulyok's term, as well as set term limits for members of parliament, implement
reforms to the judiciary and create a new authority tasked with uncovering
alleged financial abuses by Orbn's government.
But Orbn and his far-right Fidesz party, long accused of dismantling
Hungary's democratic institutions while in power, have declared that the move
to remove Sulyok is an assault on the rule of law and democratic norms, and the
first steps toward a dictatorship.
One protester, Krisztina Nemerknyi, said Thursday that the demonstration
was not about the person of Sulyok, "but about the office."
"The point is not whether Tams Sulyok is popular or not, but that this is
simply unacceptable in a democracy," she said.
Magyar has argued Sulyok failed to live up to his role as president by
neglecting to stand in the way of antidemocratic steps by Orbn's government.
He promised repeatedly to remove Sulyok during the election campaign, and
points to his party's two-thirds majority in parliament as a clear mandate from
voters to fulfill that promise.
While mostly a ceremonial role, Hungary's president is responsible for
signing legislation into law and has the power to send bills passed by
parliament to the constitutional court for review. That's raised concerns among
supporters of the new government that Sulyok, an Orbn-era appointee, could use
that power to obstruct its plans.
Ahead of Thursday's protest -- titled "Stop Tyranny" -- Orbn vigorously
promoted the event on social media, but did not attend. Since April, his Fidesz
party, which organized the demonstration, has struggled to recover from its
major election defeat.
Jnos Pcs, a Fidesz lawmaker, told The Associated Press at the protest that
while Fidesz had passed many constitutional amendments -- making 15 changes to
the document that it unilaterally authored in 2011 -- it had done so "always in
the interest of the country, in order to protect the country, but not for the
sake of dictatorship."
After taking office in May, Magyar's government went quickly to work
fulfilling other campaign promises, such as suspending the news service of
Hungary's public television and radio, which Magyar has argued served as a
"propaganda factory" for Orbn's party.
It has also implemented an 8-year term limit for prime ministers and ousted
the heads of the national security and intelligence agencies that served under
Orbn's tenure. It also succeeded in unlocking 16.4 billion euros (around $19
billion) in European Union funds for Hungary by enacting rapid reforms to roll
back the democratic backsliding that occurred under Orbn.
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