- On Monday, the Hungarian Parliament approved, on the pretext of fighting the coronavirus, a legal amendment that gives the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán almost unlimited power. All the opposition has been against the decision taken by the far-right politician who governs the country.
From now on, the Orban Executive will be able to adopt by decree almost all the decisions, including when the state of emergency has occurred, the main argument of the change of law. Among other measures, the Hungarian Government may suspend the laws and block the dissemination of information that impedes "defense" against the pandemic.
Among other measures, it provides for penalties of up to five years ' imprisonment for disseminating information that has been blocked by the Government.
The reform is based on an article in the Hungarian Constitution that gives the government at risk extraordinary powers. The opposition, for its part, believes that the Orban Government will be used to enforce censorship and silence criticism.
The opposition has criticised the fact that the extraordinary measures do not have a time limit and has called for them to be extended to a maximum of 90 days, but the Orban Government has dismissed this request.
On Monday, in Hungary there were 447 positive cases of coronavirus and 15 people have died from the pandemic.