Coronavirus: Hungary to vote on giving far-right leader Orban powers to rule by decree

Human rights groups warn against ‘unlimited government rule ... that can last beyond the actual epidemic crisis’

Hungary’s parliament is considering legislation granting prime minister Viktor Orban sweeping new powers to rule by decree indefinitely, as the country tries to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Human rights groups have warned against giving the far-right leader “cart blanche” to extend draconian restrictions without any “sunset clause” that would see the crackdown lifted after the crisis is over.

The emergency powers bill would bring in prison sentences for anyone thought to be spreading false information, and would allow Mr Orban to keep issuing decrees for as long as he deems necessary.

“A carte blanche mandate for the Hungarian government with no sunset clause is not the panacea to the emergency caused by the Covid-19 virus in Hungary,” warned four human rights groups, including the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and Amnesty International, in a joint statement.

“We need strong rule of law safeguards and proportional and necessary emergency measures, not unlimited government rule by decree that can last beyond the actual epidemic crisis.”

Mr Orban, who has been in power since 2010, has already closed schools, borders to foreign citizens, and limited the opening hours of shops and restaurants in the country of 10 million people.

The government declared a state of emergency on March 11 which was valid for 15 days and now aims to extend the measures. Opposition parties said on Saturday that they want an all-party discussion about the bill on Monday before parliament holds a session.

“The aim of the proposal is ... to allow Hungary’s government to create and keep in effect its special decrees” even if parliament does not hold a session due to coronavirus in 2020, the bill said.

“No one knows how long we have to maintain this state of crisis,” Mate Kocsis, head of the Mr Orban’s ruling Fidesz party’s parliamentary group, told private television HirTv.

Kocsis said the government wants to pass the bill in an accelerated procedure, which needs support from 80 per cent of lawmakers. He asked opposition parties to back the legislation.

The proposal raised concerns as it would give the government practically unlimited powers without a clear timeframe, said think tank Political Capital. “There is no rational explanation in the current situation for the extension of the state of emergency indefinitely,” the liberal think tank said in a statement.

Mr Orban’s spokesman Zoltan Kovacs rejected criticisms of the bill on Twitter, claiming it was “quite reasonable”. He tweeted: “It’s a state of emergency, btw. Lives are at stake.”

Hungary has experienced 107 confirmed cases of coronavirus and seven people have died from the disease, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In 2015, during the peak of the migration crisis, Hungary declared a state of emergency due to mass migration which has been in effect ever since, even though the number of migrants reaching Hungary’s southern border fence has fallen.

Mr Orban’s Fidesz party was suspended from the mainstream centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) group in the European Parliament in March over its record on respect for the rule of law, freedom of the press and minorities’ rights.

Additional reporting by Reuters