Márki-Zay pledges to call referendum on the constitution

A left-wing liberal commentator finds it unlikely that the opposition could revise the constitution through a referendum if elected to govern without a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

In Heti Világgazdaság, Tibor Lengyel deems Péter Márki-Zay’s suggestion to call a referendum to revise the Fundamental Law unfeasible. The left-wing liberal pundit reacts to an interview with the Financial Times, where opposition frontrunner Márki-Zay said that within 60 days of his election as Prime Minister, he would ask voters to authorize his government in a referendum to rewrite the constitution and reintroduce checks and balances – even if the new government does not have the required two-thirds’ majority in Parliament. Lengyel notes that calling a referendum within 60 days of the inauguration of the new government may prove technically impossible in the first place, as it usually takes more than half a year to validate questions to be submitted to a referendum. Meanwhile, he points out that the Constitutional Court is likely to annul the proposal. He is even more concerned about the political implications of such a referendum, than the procedural difficulties. He fears that any move which disregards legal procedures might trigger violent clashes in Hungary.

Tags: constitution, Márki-Zay