The opposition Socialist Party (MSZP) has called for immediate discussions on finding a new head of the National Election Office (NVI) to replace Ilona Pálffy who will step down from her post effective Aug 31.
Addressing an online press conference on Tuesday, Zsolt Molnár, head of the party’s Budapest branch, said the appointment of the new head of the NVI “goes far beyond a personnel matter”, arguing that there were matters of legitimacy concerning Hungary’s electoral system that depended on the individual appointed to the post.
Molnár called on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who also heads ruling Fidesz, to hold talks with Hungary’s parliamentary and non-parliamentary parties on who should head the NVI after Aug. 31.
He said that although Pálffy’s seven-year tenure at the head of the NVI had been “plagued with difficulties and scandals”, her departure “raises a number of serious questions and concerns”.
In the featured photo illustration: Ilona Pálffy. Photo by Tamás Kovács/MTI