The Hungarian Parliament passed a controversial law. The mayor of Budapest could end up in prison
The Hungarian parliament voted on Wednesday a law that could force the cash-strapped city hall of Budapest to take out loans under unclear conditions and could send the current mayor, a member of the opposition, to prison.
Hungarian Parliament PHOTO: Profimedia
The measure regarding this financial change was adopted a few weeks after the environmentalist mayor Gergely Karacsony warned that the municipality of the capital, which has a population of 1.6 million inhabitants, was at risk of insolvency, mainly because of taxes imposed by the government.
Karacsony frequently accuses the nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban of harassing Budapest and the other large municipalities in the country to prevent them from offering an alternative model of governance, writes Agerpres.
Prime Minister Orban's Fidesz party says, for its part, that the capital's financial difficulties are linked to “irresponsible spending” of his mayor.
The law regarding “granting a loan to prevent the bankruptcy of the Budapest municipality” it was voted with 136 votes for and 34 against, through an accelerated procedure, in an extraordinary session.
In applying its provisions, the mayor's office can request a loan from the Development Bank of Hungary, if the deadline for the payment of salaries has been exceeded.
The city's administrative services – led by a close associate of Prime Minister Orban – can also compel the capital city hall to take out a loan for which the government has the right to set the terms, including the duration, interest rate and guarantees.
The law also obliges the mayor of Budapest to submit various financial documents and carry out reforms within six months, or face a two-year prison sentence.
Gergely Karacsony compared the bill with a “political hammer blow”, which solves nothing.
Budapest City Hall is obliged to pay a “solidarity” contribution to the state, which has almost multiplied ninefold since Karacsony's election in 2019 and which currently reduces its income by a fifth.
The municipality of the capital has filed several lawsuits in recent years, arguing that this tax is unconstitutional, but the government has defended its existence on the grounds that it must redistribute funds from wealthier cities to less well-off municipalities.
Karacsony announced, moreover, last week that the police recommended the initiation of legal action against him because he did not respect the ban on the organization of the Pride March in the Hungarian capital, established by the government. If the justice follows this recommendation, the mayor risks up to a year in prison as punishment.
