BTI 2018 | Hungary Country Report

“…there are numerous elements of the electoral system that consistently favor right-wing forces (e.g., gerrymandered constituency map) and rules that provide advantages to the governing party. One example is that the government can run a virtually unrestricted campaign under the guise of public service advertisements, while parties are de facto banned from broadcasting political advertisements on commercial TV and radio channels. Due to the near-unlimited public financial resources available to the government, it can exploit that there are no regulations in place on campaign activities outside of the 50-day-long campaign period. Moreover, pseudo-civil society organizations can also campaign without restrictions, and laws regulating their obligation to account for their expenses are even laxer than they are for political parties.”

“The Hungarian system of political institutions confers largely unconstrained authority to the elected parliamentary majority and the government elected by it. This was already the case before 2010, but since the new constitution and the erosion of the system of checks and balances, its subordination to governmental control boosted the government’s power further. Power is concentrated in the hands of the head of government, and important decisions are determined by the prime minister’s inner circle.”

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