Conservative lawyer opposes ’constitutional revolution’

One of the protagonists of the 1989/1990 regime change dismisses the idea, put forward by several opposition-leaning intellectuals, that if the opposition wins the elections next year, the new parliament can simply scrap the Fundamental Law, even without the required two-thirds majority in Parliament.

Over the past few months, left-wing and liberal jurists (but not leading politicians of the opposition) have argued that since a two-thirds victory for the opposition in next year’s election is highly unlikely, the Fundamental Law and the pivotal laws based upon it would remain in force. This would mean that the various state posts that represent a check on the government would all remain filled by nominees of the current Fidesz government (including the Public Prosecutor,  judges on the Constitutional Court, the head of the Supreme Court, the State Assets Agency and the Media Council). That would, in their view, paralyse the new government, and therefore the 2011 Fundamental Law voted into force by Fidesz should be abolished – even if the new majority lacks the required two-thirds majority. (See e.g. BudaPost, March 1)

On Mandiner, Imre Kónya, a lawyer who founded the opposition round table in 1989, thereby uniting the disparate forces of the regime change and thus making negotiations on peaceful transition possible, finds it sad that one of the important personalities of the regime change, János Kis should have joined that chorus. (See BudaPost, May 24.) He admits that Kis had some reservations, namely that rather than abolishing the Fundamental Law immediately after the elections, the new government should wait until the fall of Fidesz produces a political landslide in public opinion. But if there is such a political landslide, Kónya objects, why not disband Parliament and win a two-thirds majority in new elections? In his concluding remark, he hopes that by a political landslide János Kis doesn’t mean mob rule by left-wing supporters, incited against the opposing side.

Tags: constitution, election, opposition