President János Áder opened the inaugural session of parliament today and proposed that parliament should re-elect Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
During his opening speech, the president said the legitimacy of the new national assembly and the incoming government is beyond dispute. He added that having seen the high turnout in the election before the result was clear, the leaders of the parties that will now be in opposition had expressed the same view.
President Áder said the decision made by Hungarians in the election must be respected by everyone, stating that this was the fundamental rule of democracy.
The president said that the National Election Committee and the parliamentary committee in charge could review the election process and propose changes to the electoral law.
The president said that this election saw a record 23 parties field a national list. All parties concerned received at least 153 million HUF (486,231 EUR) in state funding. He said this raises the question whether Hungary should return to previous regulations “to avoid some people turning this celebration of democracy into a business”.
During his parliamentary address, the president thanked organizers and voters for their engagement and most importantly proposed that parliament should re-elect PM Orbán, leader of the Fidesz party, as prime minister.
The president also touched on the contentious issue of the European Union. He said certain EU leaders “seem to have lost their way”.
“Public life in the European Union is characterized by the lack of a clear vision for the future, politicians getting lost in petty disputes, intellectual idleness and clichés repeated ad nauseam,” he said. He added that former German chancellor Helmut Kohl understood the clear message of the EU’s founding fathers.
“We want a unified, democratic, citizen-friendly, federal-based Europe that has the ability to take action,” President Áder said, quoting Kohl.