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Fidesz wins election with two-thirds Parliamentary majority
Fidesz wins election with two-thirds majority
25 Apr 2010
Conservative opposition party Fidesz wins national elections with 53 percent of the popular vote, giving the party a two-thirds majority in Parliament. The far-right Jobbik party enters Hungarian parliament for the first time, winning 47 seats. -
Government MPs propose media law reforms
Text of the bill, in Hungarian. A bill, “On the Freedom of the Press and the Fundamental Rules on Media Contents,” is presented by Fidesz MPs Antal Rogán and András Cser-Palkovics to the parliamentary Committee on Culture and the Press, followed by other relevant parliamentary committees on 14 June. Among the more controversial proposals are a new “media constitution” outlining content regulation for all media, new registration requirements for media outlets including print and online media, the creation of a powerful media re -
Opposition submits 44 amendments
Hungarian opposition parties, strongly criticizing the proposed media legislation, submit 44 amendments to the bill in Parliament. Only one of these amendments, which was submitted by the nationalist Jobbik party, is passed. -
Parliament votes on amendments to media law
Parliament votes on a range of amendments to media law package. The vote on new content regulations and the so-called media "constitution" is postponed until the fall session, in response to criticism from opposition parties, unions and civil organizations who claim the package is being fast-tracked through Parliament without public debate.
http://www.politics.hu/20100622/parliament-votes-on-amendments-to-media-law-package -
International journalist organizations condemn media law package
Brussels-based European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemns new media legislation for failing to meet European standards and turning "the clock back to a time when Hungary lived under communism and the shadow of state control of media.” A day later, [Vienna-based Internet Press Institute (IPI) ]( to “rush through a media package that would grant the government strong influence over key media outlets.” http://europe.ifj.org/en/articles/european-journalists-reject-the-new-hungarian-media-bill-and-call-for-new-talks http://www.freemedia.at/singleview/5011/)criticises Fidesz for using its two-thirds parliamentary majority to “rush through a media package that would grant the government strong influence over key media outlets.” -
Groups call for more discussion on bill
Journalist groups tell parliamentary committee more discussion on the bill is needed on the proposed legisla. Laszlo Czegledi, chairman of the Hungarian Television Supervisory Board, argues the package merits more than one debate in a hearing in Parliament’s culture and media committee. Eva Simon, media lawyer with Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ), warns that if the new rules for online media would be “impractical and impossible to implement.”