Hungary passes 'slave law' prompting fury among opposition MPs

[Rogue Valley]

Hungary passes 'slave law' prompting fury among opposition MPs

12/12/18
The Hungarian government has passed a set of controversial laws amid scenes of chaos, as opposition MPs sounded sirens, blew whistles and angrily confronted the country’s rightwing prime minister, Viktor Orbán. One of the new laws raises the amount of overtime employers can demand their employees work and has been labelled a “slave law” by critics. Another establishes new courts to consider government business with a greater role for the justice minister. Their passing into law provoked a rare show of defiance from the fractured and demoralised opposition, heavily outnumbered in a chamber where Orbán’s Fidesz party commands a two-thirds majority. Orbán has been accused of a piecemeal takeover of previously independent institutions, as well as extending government control over the majority of Hungarian media outlets. The judiciary has remained relatively independent but the new legislation will mean the country’s supreme court no longer has the final say in so-called administrative disputes, which cover a wide range of issues including electoral practice and corruption cases.

It puts Orbán on a further collision course with the European parliament, which has already voted to begin disciplinary proceedings against Hungary over rule of law issues. The government has promised the new courts will be independent of political interference but the justice minister will have a major role in appointing the judges and also oversight of the budget for the courts. he human rights group the Hungarian Helsinki Committee said the legislation was “a serious threat to the rule of law in Hungary and runs counter to values Hungary signed up to when it joined the European Union”. The overtime law drew thousands of protesters onto the streets over the weekend, who called for a rise in wages rather than a rise in permitted overtime hours. Hungary has also irritated EU and Nato allies by giving safe haven to the fugitive former Macedonian prime minister Nikola Gruevski, who was due to start a jail sentence in his home country last month, but instead fled to Budapest with the help of Hungarian diplomats and was swiftly granted asylum.

Orban won't be satisfied until he turns Hungary into the new iteration of East Germany.

Related: Hungary Creates New Court System, Cementing Leader’s Control of Judiciary

 

[Rogue Valley]

Protests as Hungarian parliament passes 'slave law' on overtime

12/13/18
Budapest, Hungary - Thousands of Hungarians have taken to the streets of capital, Budapest, to protest several measures adopted by the parliament, including a controversial amendment to labour laws. The demonstrations on Wednesday, which began in front of the Hungarian parliament, spread through the city, stopping traffic in some of the city's busiest areas and reaching the headquarters of the ruling Fidesz party. The demonstrators belonging to various trade unions held Hungarian and European Union flags and chanted "Free country" as they marched. The protest came in response to the parliament's approval of amendment to the labour laws, proposed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's right-wing party. The protests in Budapest appeared to be organic on Wednesday evening, with Hungarians demonstrators as they marched through the city. Various trade unions protesting in Kossuth Lajos Square called on workers to go on strike on Thursday.

Protests were robust last night across Budapest. Hungarians have perhaps had enough of the rightest-authoritarian Orban/Fidesz regime.

Related: Orban defies EU with 'rubber-stamp' court

 

[Jetboogieman]

Pro-Business to the point of harming your own people?

This is a Republicans wet dream.

 

[Abbazorkzog]

Its definitely no longer just terrorists and Russia up to no good now.

A "Fourth Reich" situation could materialize anywhere at any time, including here in North America. All world leaders regardless of creed or nationality are a potential war criminal AFAIC since the needs of the many outweight the few by default.