Hungary lawmakers fill key court vacancy despite criticism

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AFP) — Hungary’s Parliament elected the first Constitutional Court judge under Prime Minister Peter Magyar on Monday, but the fast-tracked process has drawn criticism for echoing nationalist ex-leader Viktor Orban’s practices.

The vote comes as the pro-EU leader rushes to loosen his predecessor’s lingering grip over state institutions after ending Orban’s hardline 16-year rule at the April elections.

University professor Pal Sonnevend was elected constitutional court judge for a nine-year term, gaining 138 votes for and six against in the 199-member legislature.

He replaces judge Csaba Hende, a former defense minister under Orban, whose term ended due to a constitutional change that Parliament passed earlier this month.

The ballot took place just two days after Magyar’s ruling Tisza party unveiled Sonnevend as its candidate.

Magyar said Sonnevend’s nomination reflected the government’s aim to place “capable, honest people capable of independent thought” in public offices again.

But rights watchdog Amnesty International criticized the “astonishing haste” given that Parliament has 60 days to fill a vacancy.

“Tisza’s current approach …  means that the same single-party, professional and political consultation-free selection of a constitutional judge is taking place as before” under Orban, Amnesty said last week in a statement.

The former governing parties Fidesz and KDNP boycotted the vote, saying the vacancy occurred “unlawfully” and slammed the constitutional change as “autocratic” — a charge that was often leveled against party leader Orban during his time in power.

Under the change, the mandates of court head Peter Polt, an Orban ally, and three other sitting members will also end next month.

Fidesz has said it will challenge several of the Magyar government’s legal changes at the 15-member constitutional court, already filing a motion last week regarding anticorruption reforms.

The constitutional change also ousted unpopular president Tamas Sulyok, another Orban loyalist.

Parliament has until Aug. 19 to find a new head of state.

Magyar had proposed internationally acclaimed chess legend Judit Polgar as a replacement, but she rejected the offer last week.

A survey from pollster Median showed that about 68% of Hungarians found it “disappointing” that Magyar quickly named a candidate without consulting the public as he had promised.

Support for Tisza, which won April’s parliamentary elections in a landslide, has decreased slightly from 60% to 57%, according to the poll.

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By Agence France-Presse