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Orbán II
70 Cabinet of Hungary
Incumbent
Date formed	29 May 2010
People and organisations
Head of state	László Sólyom (Ind.) Pál Schmitt (Fidesz) János Áder (Fidesz)
Head of government	Viktor Orbán
Member party	Fidesz, KDNP
Status in legislature	Coalition
Opposition party	MSZP, Jobbik and LMP
Opposition leader	Attila Mesterházy (MSZP) Gábor Vona (Jobbik) András Schiffer, Benedek Jávor, András Schiffer (LMP)
History
Election	11 and 25 April 2010
Outgoing election	-
Legislature term	2010-2014
Predecessor	Bajnai

The Second Cabinet of Viktor Orbán or Government of National Cooperation is the current cabinet of ministers governing Hungary since 29 May 2010. Orbán formed his second cabinet after his party, Fidesz won the outright majority in the first round on April 11, with the Fidesz-KDNP alliance winning 206 seats, including 119 individual seats. In the final result, they won 263 seats, of which 173 are individual seats. Fidesz holds 227 of these seats, giving it an outright majority in the National Assembly by itself.

History (since 2010)

International Criticism of Fourth amendment of the 2011 Constitution

On 1 March 2013, Princeton University international constitutional law scholar and Hungary specialist Kim Lane Scheppele reported that the Hungarian ruling party's supermajority is re-introducing in one "mega-amendment" multiple constitutional amendments which had been introduced before and nullified by the Constitutional Court or changed at the insistence of European bodies. The new constitutional mega-amendment again puts an end to the independence of the judiciary, brings universities under still more governmental control, opens the door to political prosecutions, criminalizes homelessness, makes the recognition of religious groups dependent on their cooperation with the government and weakens human rights guarantees across the board. In addition, the constitution will now buffer the government from further financial sanctions by permitting it to pass on all fines for noncompliance with the constitution or with European law to the Hungarian population as special taxes, not payable by the normal state budget. The mega-amendment annuls all of the decisions made by the Court before 1 January 2012 so that they have no legal effect. Henceforth no longer can anyone in the country – neither the Constitutional Court, nor the ordinary courts, nor human rights groups nor ordinary citizens – rely on the Court’s prior string of rights-protecting decisions.

"The amendment reverses virtually all of the concessions that the government has been forced to make over the last year, and it provides further evidence that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán recognizes no limits on his power. :"t seems increasingly likely that the Hungarian government is heading toward the creation of a police state" .

On 5 March 2013, Michael Link, undersecretary in the German Foreign Ministry, in "Hungary must remain a country of the law," called on Hungary "to demonstrate that the country has an effective separation of power between the legislative and the judicial."

On 6 March 2013, Europe’s main human rights watchdog, Council of Europe President Thorbjorn Jagland, said that the amendments set to be voted on next week by Hungarian lawmakers may be incompatible with European legal principles and asked Hungary to postpone the approval of a series of constitutional amendments so legal experts can review the changes.

On 8 March 2013, the government of the USA raised its concerns both about the content of the proposed amendments "as they could threaten the principles of institutional independence and checks and balances that are the hallmark of democratic governance" and about the process by which they were to be accepted: " "urges the Government of Hungary and the Parliament to ensure that the process of considering amendments to the constitution demonstrates respect for the rule of law and judicial review, openness to the views of other stakeholders across Hungarian society, and continuing receptiveness to the expertise of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission." On that same day, in a letter to the European commission, Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, and counterparts in Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland called for the European Union to be given new powers allowing it to freeze EU budget funds to a member state in breach of Europe's "fundamental values." Likewise on the same day, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso expressed concerns to Orbán over the amendment vote in Hungary’s parliament next week to change the constitution, arguing it contravenes EU rules in areas such as the judiciary.

On the 11th of March, "Hungary's parliament, dominated by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party, adopted changes to the country's constitution on Monday despite warnings from the European Union and the U.S. government that the changes could weaken Hungary's democracy. The legislation was supported by 265 lawmakers in the 386-seat chamber, with 11 votes against and 33 abstentions."

Government responses to critics

György Schöpflin — formerly Jean Monnet Professor of Politics at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London and currently member of the European Parliament for Fidesz — has stated that the assertions of Kim Lane Scheppele on the blog, named The Conscience of a Liberal (Opinion Pages, The New York Times) "are teeming with misunderstandings, errors of fact, misreadings and ill-will.” Analyzing the blog entry of the Princeton constitutional law professor, Mr. Ferenc Kumin—Deputy State Secretary for International Communication of the Hungarian Government — also states that on the one hand it has conceptual errors, because its narrative is based on half-information, gained only from opposition sources. Typical example of this is the case of homelessness, which is of course not criminalised in Hungary. The amendment declares that “in order to preserve the public order, public safety, public health and cultural values” the government may prohibit living in the streets, but the same amendment also says that the government is to ensure the right to housing, and the government has invested a considerable amount in shelters in the interest of the homeless as well as the general public. These are not mentioned in the blog entry of Miss Scheppele. On the other hand, according to Mr. Kumin, the entry is full of factual mistakes as well, of which the worst is the question of the decisions of the previous Court, which are and will be valid – contrary to Miss Scheppele's text. Therefore Mr. Kumin – quoting her other mistakes as well - concludes that the blog-entry did not meet the criteria of an objective analysis, and can be seen only as a political opinion.

On the 7th of March, Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics sent letter to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland, to give some additional written explanations to the Proposal on the Fourth Amendment to Fundamental Law of Hungary.

On the 8th of March, Minister of Foreign Affairs, János Martonyi sent letter to the Minsters of Foreign Affairs of EU-member states, in which he gave details on the text of the amendment.

In the New York Times column of Nobel Laureate economist Paul Krugman, Princeton University international constitutional scholar and Hungary specialist Professor Kim Lane Scheppele writes:

"The Hungarian Parliament passed a 15-page amendment to its one-year-old constitution against a storm of protest from both home and abroad. If it is signed by the Hungarian President, János Áder, the “Fourth Amendment” will wipe out more than 20 years of Constitional Court decisions protecting human rights and it will reverse concessions made to Europe over the last year of difficult bargaining as the Fidesz government has tightened its grip on power…. But Hungary’s allies should see through the fog of amendment. By now it should be clear that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party recognize no limitations in their quest for power."

Composition

Coalition members:   Fidesz,   KDNP, and   Independent ministers

References

1. "Országos Választási Iroda - 2010 Országgyűlési Választások" (in Template:Hu icon). Valasztas.hu. 2010-05-03. Retrieved 2010-05-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
2. Kim Lane Scheppele, New York Times, March 1, 2013 http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/01/guest-post-constitutional-revenge/ Constitutional Revenge
3. Neil Buckley & Kester Eddy Hungary revisits controversial constitution plan Financial Times March 4, 2013
4. Margit Feher: Hungary’s Government May Take Revenge on Court, Professor Says Wall Street Journal March 5, 2013
5. Kim Lane Scheppele, New York Times, March 1, 2013 http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/01/guest-post-constitutional-revenge/ 'Constitutional Revenge
6. Kim Lane Scheppele, New York Times, April 19, 2012 http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/the-new-hungarian-secret-police/ The New Hungarian Secret Police
7. Eva Balogh, Hungarian Spectrum http://hungarianspectrum.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/the-new-parliamentary-guard-what-will-fidesz-use-it-for/ The new Parliamentary Guard: What will Fidesz use it for?
8. http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/DE/Infoservice/Presse/Interviews/2013/130305-StM_L_FAZ.html
9. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/european-rights-watchdog-urges-hungary-to-postpone-vote-on-disputed-amendments-to-constitution/2013/03/06/87ac1526-867b-11e2-a80b-3edc779b676f_story.html
10. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/03/205838.htm
11. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/08/hungarian-prime-minister-warned-power
12. http://www.euronews.com/newswires/1848348-eus-barroso-critical-of-planned-hungary-constitution-vote/
13. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-hungary-constitutionbre92a0ox-20130311,0,1542992.story
14. http://ferenckumin.tumblr.com/post/44688341058/facts-matter
15. http://ferenckumin.tumblr.com/post/44713627207/a-look-at-the-constitutional-amendment
16. http://www.kormany.hu/en/ministry-of-public-administration-and-justice/news/deputy-prime-minister-navracsics-s-letter-to-secretary-general-jagland
17. http://www.kormany.hu/en/ministry-of-foreign-affairs/news/janos-martonyi-sent-letter-to-eu-foreign-ministers
18. http://lapa.princeton.edu/newsdetail.php?ID=63
19. http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/12/guest-post-the-fog-of-amendment/

• Cabinet of Hungary