Mind you, this post will be subjective and selective and restrictive. Subjective, so far as a generally liberal person with no strict political views, a journalist, cannot remain neutral to the happenings in her homeland. Selective, since it would be hard to translate and analyze the complete text of the constitution. Restrictive because I won't give my full&uncensored opinion.
Yes, yes…no politics on this site. But for the past months all media was echoing parts of the new Hungarian constitution (some pro locally and even more contra internationally). I am being asked all the time - also you, dear reader, seem to be curious - I can no longer avoid giving some comments. Therefore, right after having completely read it once, I am sharing my first impressions:
April 25, 2011. Easter Monday, 12AM. Pál Schmitt, President of Hungary ceremoniously signs the country's new constitution (Magyarország Alkotmánya). All decided. The Orbán-regime says the old one was the outdated skeleton of the communist era and thus, had to be removed. I have to say, I studied the old constitution pretty well and I did not find any major problems with it – it contains all the basics of a democratic state without outrageous regulations or data. So what miraculous par does the new one, in effect from 2012, offer?
First of all, a lot of PRIDE…literally! Conservative attitude, straightforward nationalism, religious (=Catholic) ideology are evident already at first glance.
God bless the Hungarians
Hungary’s new constitution (beware, the state is not called Republic of Hungary anymore!) starts with the first line of the national anthem and follows with a lot of things WE have to be, by constitution, proud of. The credo begins with a pathetic list of historical greatness and Hungarian virtues of the past. After the years of moral decline, Hungary needs a well-deserved change - it says! (Hallelujah, and thus the change has come!)
So far, so good…even though it is quite explicitly nationalistic. Here come some further differences after the introduction.
Hungarian minorities: Hungary is responsible for the Hungarians outside the border of Hungary. (Does this mean legal steps, financial aid, humanitarian actions or…simply getting more votes as they will be granted suffrage soon? Bad author, bad, bad author.)
Family: Hungary supports the marriage between men and women. (So gay marriages excluded, again, by constitution?) Hungary supports childbirth. (Probably that’s why it implicitly makes abortion impossible, due to the personality rights of the foetus stated in par II. *sigh*...a complicated issue, that cannot be and even more, SHOULD not be made black or white.) Well, at least the number of us, Hungarians, will not abate anymore.
LOL (my favourite part): Cloning is strictly prohibited!!! (Cf. par III.) Good to know, isn’t it. Yo, multi-tasking ladies, busy leaders, if you hoped for more hands or two brains, forget about it! No Dolly-mom, neither now nor never…
Labour: Everybody has a right to freely choose a profession, everybody has to contribute to the community’s growth according to his or her abilities and possibilities. Hungary strives to provide work to those who want to work. (Whatever this section means in practice…)
I don’t want to go into organizational details of the present/future constitution (=the Hungarian state), as it would take ages to summarize it. Nor do I want to decipher the restly enactments planned. If you allow me to give my opinion, the items are clearly designed to prolong the current government’s power and carve its ideology for ever.
I have to admit that it also has some good points. It Protects Hungarian commons (from culture to nature) and it suggest a healthy life: more sports, less GMO. Yes, it's written there! Hungary also becomes a high-tech country (with latest technologies), as prescribed in this document. Wow, the right-wing government provides social security and housing in its constitution. Ironic, isn’t it. All I can say: let it be so!
Yet, we had a constitution that resembled the constitution of the few European countries’ I have read. It served no political purpose, except for what a constitution should be for: maintain order in a democratic country. Its biggest mistake was that it had an initial date of 1949.
Was the change necessary? Does it really serve the majority of the Hungarian population?
* * *
Wikipedia offers some further details on the former and the will-be Hungarian constitution.
