The Hungarian Parliament has adopted the 16th amendment to the Constitution, which, among other provisions, limits the prime minister's maximum term to 8 years, the Hungarian news agency MTI reported, quoted by BTA.
The amendment, submitted by TISA deputies Marton Meletey-Barna and Istvan Hantosi, was adopted with 135 votes “for“, 50 “against“ and 6 “abstain“, the Hungarian agency adds.
This was one of the election promises of the pro-European conservative Péter Magyar, thus Hungarian MPs are preventing the return to power of the nationalist Viktor Orbán, notes Agence France-Presse.
The new amendment to the Constitution stipulates that no one can be elected prime minister if he has already held this position for 8 years, even if it concerns two non-consecutive terms. The eight-year period applies to any term that began after May 2, 1990.
In addition, the amendment to the Constitution includes a provision according to which the prime minister's term of office must end if he has held office for a total of at least 8 years.
The provision establishing the so-called Sovereignty Protection Service is also deleted from the basic law. The deleted provision stated that it was an “independent body for the protection of constitutional identity“.
A new text in the Constitution was also adopted, which stipulates that all state assets entrusted to the so-called Foundation for the Management of Property in the Public Interest remain state property if a given foundation is liquidated. This applies both to the assets themselves and to all income they generate.
Foundations for the Management of Property in the Public Interest are specific legal and economic structures created during the rule of former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. There are currently 34 such foundations in Hungary, controlling significant state assets, including 21 universities, the elite “Matyás Corvin” College and the Foundation of Nobel laureate Ferenc Kraus, explains “Euroactive“.
The state will also assume all the rights of the founder, which means that it can close these foundations if it decides, specifies the MTI agency.
The details regarding the functioning of these structures, the procedure for their closure and the public tasks they will perform will be regulated in a separate law.