The government is considering giving up its special emergency powers in June, Justice Minister Judit Varga said on Facebook on Monday. A few days ago, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that the government expected to be able to give up its special powers (handed to it by parliament at the start of the coronavirus epidemic) at the end of May.
Varga cited the government’s pledge to terminate the state of emergency raised in connection with the novel coronavirus outbreak once the epidemic has subsided.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán may submit a motion on ending the government’s special powers to parliament before the end of May, she added.
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Meanwhile, the minister slammed the opposition for “launching a political attack of unprecedented intensity against our homeland, in cooperation with Western European political leaders, the liberal mainstream media and well-known satellite civil organisations, in the midst of the pandemic.”
These people and organisations “have not shied away from spreading the most absurd charges, slander and fake news” concerning “dictatorship, the closure of parliament and the imprisonment of journalists,” she said. In the meantime, the government is working to minimise the damaging effects of the epidemic, Varga said.
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She insisted that the “systematic spread of absurd charges has caused a lot of damage to Hungary’s reputation.” But it also revealed, she said, how certain groups had exploited the state of emergency for their own ends.
In her post, Varga said she was “interested to see” in the coming days if the people who made damaging charges against the government would “at least report what is really happening”.
Featured photo by Gergely Botár/kormany.hu