Hungary - 2010 Election
The OSCE election observation mission reported that parliamentary elections held on 07 April 2010, with a second round on April 21, were conducted in a manner consistent with international standards and commitments for democratic elections. Parliamentary elections brought a Fidesz-KDNP coalition back to power with 66 percent of the seats in parliament (263 seats). The right-wing Fidesz party won only 53 percent of the popular vote, but gained a two-thirds majority in parliament, enough to change the constitution.
During the election campaign public stations Magyar Televizio (Hungarian Television) and Magyar Radio (Hungarian Radio) refused to broadcast an anti-Roma electoral campaign advertisement by the far-right party Jobbik because it would contravene rules forbidding the denigration of minority groups. The advertisement focused on "gypsy crime." The National Election Committee said on November 27 that the rejection of the Jobbik advertisement violated the principal of equality for political parties, and that its content did not overstep the boundaries of freedom of speech legislation. On October 4, the Constitutional Court ruled that the stations erred in not broadcasting the advertisements.
Viktor Orban, again became Prime Minister, and assumed office on 29 May 2010, having previously served one term from 1998 to 2002. The National Assembly elected Pal Schmitt president, and he took office on August 6. Joining the MSZP (59 seats) in opposition were the newly elected far-right Jobbik party (47 seats) and the Green party, Politics Can Be Different (LMP) (16 seats). There is one independent member of Parliament. The 386-seat National Assembly elected in April 2010 included 34 women, 20 percent fewer than its predecessor. There were no women in Prime Minister Orban's immediate cabinet, but women were represented at the sub-cabinet level. There also were no women on the Constitutional Court. Due to privacy laws regarding ethnic data, no statistics were available on the number of minorities in the National Assembly, cabinet, or Constitutional Court.
The Fidesz-dominated Parliament quickly launched an ambitious legislative agenda that was intended to correct lingering evils of the Communist era. This reduced the overall number of seats in Parliament to 200 effective for the next election in 2014, cut by half the number of local representatives, and extended citizenship rights to ethnic Hungarians living beyond the country's present borders. The Fidesz proceeded to undermine the authority of every institution it did not control, including the presidency and the Supreme Court. The ruling Fidesz party is also demanding control over key financial institutions such as the State Audit Office and Central Bank.
On 12 July 2011 the Religion Law was rushed through the Parliament with 254 in favor (members of the ruling coalition Fidesz and Christian Democrat parties) and 43 opposed. A Church had to have functioned in Hungary for at least twenty years [the requirement for a minimum membership of 1,000 in the draft bill was deleted from the final law]. Fourteen accepted religious organizations were recognized as as Churches, status that provides tax benefits and subsidy entitlements. All other religious groups - 348 in all, including, for example, Buddhists, Methodists and Islamic groups - were retroactively stripped of their status as registered religions.The Religion Law discriminates against minority religious groups, and so contravenes OSCE, European Union, Council of Europe, European Court of Human Rights and United Nations standards.
Once the the Religion Law went into effect on 01 January 2012, these organizations had 30 days to attempt to “re-register” in a process that included onerous requirements. The Law defines “religious activities” as those related to a certain world view aiming at some supernatural phenomenon that contains systematized principles of belief. The theses of a religion must target the “whole reality” embracing the “total personality” by requiring particular behavior.
One new media law put Fidesz in control of state television channels and all other public media outlets. The second, approved by parliament on 21 December 2010, created a Media Council to regulate newspapers, television, radio and the Internet. Hungary's new media law violates OSCE media freedom standards and endangers editorial independence and media pluralism, Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, said. "I am concerned that Hungary's parliament has adopted media legislation that, if misused, can silence critical media and public debate in the country," Mijatovic said, referring to the "Law on media services and mass communication", adopted on 20 December 2010.
On October 23rd, 2011 tens of thousands of Hungarian protesters filled central Budapest to march against what they say are the anti-democratic policies of the government. Protesters decried a range of decisions by the conservative ruling Fidesz party, including a restrictive media law, tax hikes, spending cuts, and changes in election laws. Organizers say the government is out to destroy the rule of law with an undemocratic system. The march came on the 55th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution — the popular uprising against Soviet rule.
On 21 December 2011 the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, welcomed a Constitutional Court decision that declared unconstitutional several key provisions of Hungary’s 2010 media law. Following the decision of the Constitutional Court, print media will be taken out of the scope of the media law and the institution of the media ombudsman will be eliminated as of 31 May 2012. The decision also immediately abolishes the limitation on the protection of confidential sources of information serving the public interest and ruled that even in issues of national security or crime prevention, court approval is needed to force journalists to disclose sources. The decision also annuls the right of the Media Authority to obtain editorial materials from media outlets without prior court approval.
At the same time she expressed concern over the silencing of an independent political talk and news radio in Budapest. The Representative expressed concern about the recent decision of the Media Council to reassign the frequency of Klub Radio. “I regret that an independent and popular political talk radio is to be taken off the air. The radio is known for its critical political views and enjoyed a half million listeners daily. As an important source of independent information, it added to a pluralistic media landscape in Hungary,” she said.
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