Coronavirus: Why Hungary’s new Emergency law is raising eyebrows

As of April 1, Hungary had 525 covid-19 cases, and 20 deaths.

Who is Prime Minister Viktor Orban?

Belonging to the conservative Fidesz party, Orban has been Prime Minister since 2010, and has adopted a hardline approach on matters such as immigration. His party currently enjoys a two-thirds majority in Hungary’s parliament.

During his time in power, Orban has strengthened his grip over the media and filled the courts with his supporters. He has been at loggerheads with rights organisations and the European Union throughout this period.

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He has often been quoted mocking the “liberal democracy” of European nations and voicing admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Orban’s critics have accused him of undermining the rule of law and democracy in Hungary.

Hungarian Prime Minister Orban, center right, delivers his speech about the current state of the coronavirus outbreak during a plenary session in the House of Parliament in Budapest, Hungary. (Tamas Kovacs/MTI via AP)

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What the new law does

The new law has indefinitely extended the state of emergency which was declared in the country on March 11.

It also lays down imprisonment terms of up to five years for spreading false information or undermining efforts to tackle the pandemic.

The country’s parliament has also been suspended.

Critics have said that the law could be used to silence independent media organisations, who are already struggling, and that public money would be spent on media that would follow the government line.

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Because it does not set a time limit when Orban would cease to have the additional powers, the law has been criticised by opposition parties within Hungary, as well as many of its partners in Europe.

Hungary’s leader of the opposition has said that passing the new law is akin to placing democracy in quarantine.

On March 20, Orban’s Fidesz party was suspended from the European People’s Party (EPP), a group of centre-right political parties in the European Parliament, of which the former has been a member for several years.

Denmark’s Conservative People’s Party has since asked for Fidesz’s expulsion from the group.

Hungary’s president, an Orban ally, has defended the new law, and said that it was in line with the country’s constitution as well as international treaties.

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