The Constitutional Court has until mid-January to make a decision.Continue reading
The Constitutional Court unanimously upheld the Parliament’s decision to call for a referendum, thus rejecting the petitions for its annulment, which were deemed unfounded.
Parliament called for a referendum on four questions on November 30. The Constitutional Court’s upholding of the referendum means that all obstacles have been removed and the referendum can be held on a date to be set by the President, presumably together with the parliamentary elections. President Áder has 15 days to set a date for the referendum, which must then be held within 70-90 days.
The four questions are:
The planned fifth question was this: Do you support the availability of non-conversion treatments for minors? This one was canceled by the Kúria (the Supreme Court of Hungary), and although the Constitutional Court overturned the decision in December following a complaint by the government, the government did not want to reopen the question. As Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at the Cabinet meeting before Christmas, he is content with the four questions.
“Hungarian citizens can make decisions on issues that have a direct impact on their own lives or their children’s lives, such as the sexual education of children, the promotion of gender reassignment surgery, and media content showing such interventions,” Alapjogokért Központ, a pro-Fidesz legal analysis and research institute, said on the matter. “Western political elites have basically adopted as official policy the madness called gender ideology without asking the people first,” they added.
Opposition prime ministerial candidate Péter Márki-Zay has branded the referendum questions as “stupid.”
Hungary’s parliament passed amendments to its child protection law last June, aiming to protect children from “LGBTQ propaganda.” The measure was condemned by the Venice Commission as incompatible with international human rights norms.
Featured image via Pixabay
