Labour laws outrage Hungary

The Hungarian government, headed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban encounters backlash from students, opposition MPs and trade unions over recent labour law passed. The right-wing government has passed a set of controversial laws since Orban’s taking of office in 2010. This has culminated in thousands taking to the streets in protest of…

The Hungarian government, headed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban encounters backlash from students, opposition MPs and trade unions over recent labour law passed. The right-wing government has passed a set of controversial laws since Orban’s taking of office in 2010. This has culminated in thousands taking to the streets in protest of the government’s new reforms.

Background

Hungary, a country located in Central Europe became a democratic parliamentary republic on October 23rd 1989. This marked the tearing down of the Berlin wall and the end of the communist era. The 28-year-old democracy began with the election of centre-right coalition party Fidesz headed by Viktor Orban.

The 1st of May, 2004 announced the consolidation of Hungary as a member of the European Union. 2010 saw the re-election of the conservative party Fidesz with its coalition partner, the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP) won by a landslide. However, the KDNP is said to be merely a satellite party of the Fidesz as it has been unable to get into parliament on its own since 2006.

On the anniversary of Obran’s taking of office, the parliament passed a bill known as “the fundamental law”. In a system that requires a two-thirds majority to unanimously pass a bill, the majority of seats held by the Fidesz party were enough to pass the fundamental law bill. This enabled the government to amend the constitution it had inherited and removed all of the institutional checks it held previously.

With the Fundamental law in place, the old constitution was substituted with a new one. Although the new constitution held most of the 1989 legislations it was amended to suit the agenda of whichever ruling party. The new laws curbed the power of the Constitutional Court, allowed the dismissal of public employees without just cause and introduced state-backed media houses. The parliament in June 2018 passed a set of laws penalising NGO’s and individuals alike who assist in illegal immigrant asylum claims, officially called the “stop soros” law.

The latest bill popularly nicknamed “the slavery law” hikes the annual overtime hours that employers can require from 250 to 400. In addition, the calculation for overtime payment was to be pushed to three years. The bill incited the citizens of Hungary to take to the streets in mass demonstrations displaying the country’s dissatisfaction of the new laws. 

Analysis

The young democratic country of Hungary has displayed the most co-ordinated show of opposition to the nationalist Viktor Obran’s move to centralise his power. The “slavery law” is a catalyst in the country’s fight to demand a just democracy from the government. A research director at the Freedom house is quoted by the Financial Times as saying “Previously everyone was so well behaved. Even if 50,000 people participated in the protests for Central European University last year, there was an almost festive atmosphere. This time it is different,” referring to the 2006 protest against the then ruling socialist party.

In September of 2018, the Members of European Parliament voted for the first time to trigger the EU’s strictest measure against a member state, Hungary. The vote carried 448 MEPs narrowly surpassing the required number for the majority. Under the Treaty on European Union, Article 7 is a mechanism used by the EU to sanction member states by suspending their membership rights. This measure is taken when a member state violates Article 2, which has enshrined within it the core values the European Union reside by.

Judith Sargentini, the Dutch MEP who led the process said “The Hungarian people deserve better. They deserve freedom of speech, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice and equality, all of which are enshrined in the European treaties”.

Counterpoint

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused his European Union counterparts of targeting his country for choosing to not be “a country of immigrants”. This was echoed by the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó who said that the vote was a “massive fraud” and “petty revenge” for the country’s anti-immigration policies. This was substantiated with the claim that abstentions weren’t counted into the final tally, making it easier to reach the required majority.

Daniel Dalton, a British Conservative MEP is quoted by the Guardian as saying “MEPs have no role to play in the process and their involvement leaves any subsequent legal action open to the accusation that it is politically motivated”.

Assessment

Our assessment is that the rule of law is in grave danger of being lost in Hungary. We feel that the country being such a young democracy must fiercely guard its constitution. Hungary is more than capable of restoring democracy using its recent memories of a communist past as incentive. We feel that the measures taken by the EU were made ad hoc and thus show just cause.