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Andras Sajo on a Potential New Constitution in Hungary

A national constitution assembly could draft a new constitution, which then could be passed by referendum or a subsequent parliament, our Senior Research Fellow Andras Sajo writes in his op-ed in Hungarian weekly Magyar Narancs.

If the opposition wants keep its promises, it must go beyond the Fundamental Law of Hungary soon. However, it violates rule of law, could result in riots and provoke the wrath of the European Union in defending the rule of law, he writes. But the main problems lie with the power positions created by the so-called National Cooperation System (an invention by the Hungarian government to describe the regime). The power of the system lies in the cadres appointed by and loyal to the governing party, and they appear to be immovable within the rule of law.

If the restoration of the rule of law forces a path of legal revolution, it is justified only to the extent to which some institutions of the NCS have denied the principles of the rule of law, he continues, adding that revolutionary constitutions, or ones aimed at changing regimes, are usually entrusted to national constitution assemblies.

“The legal imagination must not be paralyzed by the fact that only what is contained in the Fundamental Law is acceptable,” Andras Sajo said about the same topic in an interview with Hungarian weekly HVG. Popular sovereignty is not a two-thirds issue, it is more complicated, he added. (In Hungary, a two-third majority is needed in the Parliament to change the constitution.)

It is difficult to answer whether the violation of the rule of law is already so deep that it requires a new constitution, he continued, adding that social peace is also required for a new constitution.

A constitution is about completing a social transformation and bringing it into a normal framework, Andras Sajo said to Hungarian Klubradio. The most important duty of a system seeking a constitutional consensus would be to limit itself, he emphasized.

He also pointed out that there are many democratic constitutions around the world that have come into being despite the laws in force when they were enacted. These were born by asserting popular sovereignty. It is imperative that the rule of law minimum must be adhered, and "it is really against the rule of law if human rights, the principles of power-sharing, are ignored, and a parliament with a simple majority forces a simple dictatorship on the country," he said.

Read the full op-ed in Magyar Narancs here, the full interview with HVG here, and listen to the interview with Klubradio here (all in Hungarian).

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