Protest Hungary's Move to Dictatorship!
On January 1, Hungary's new constitution took effect. Written by the ruling Fidesz party, the new constitution gives Fidesz control over the courts, the media, the banks, and the electoral commission.
According to The New York Times, the new constitution redraws electoral boundaries in favor of Fidesz, making it nearly impossible for any other party to get elected.
The constitution also places Fidesz party functionaries in charge of appointing new judges. It also lowers the age of retirement from 70 to 62, ensuring that over 200 judges will be replaced by party loyalists.
A new media board, appointed by the Prime Minister to nine-year terms, has the power to bankrupt media organizations with large fines.
Conservative Christian beliefs have also been enshrined as law. Abortion has been made illegal, and marriage has been defined as heterosexual.
Sign this petition to support the thousands of Hungarians protesting this move to a one-party dictatorship!
We the undersigned believe that the recent changes to the Hungarian constitution represent an attempt to transform Hungary into a one-party state. We demand that you scrap the current constitution and work with opposing parties to write a new constitution, which has all the stakeholders of Hungarian society on board. We demand that this constitution be ratified by the Hungarian people, and not by the ruling party alone.
Stacking the courts with party loyalists, threatening media organizations with bankruptcy, and manipulating the electoral boundaries are clearly not the actions of a democratic government. We the undersigned add our voice to the growing international condemnation of this slide into authoritarian rule.
