Gulyas: Proposal on public prosecutor’s status in line with previous legislation

Gergely Gulyas slammed “fake news spreading in the left-wing press”, saying that under Hungarian law, the public prosecutor was elected with a two-thirds majority. The government’s recently submitted amendment proposal is a “clarification”, saying that the prosecutor’s removal should also require two-thirds majority, Gulyas said.

Those regulations pertain to all those in public office, he said. “The Constitution clearly states that public dignitaries can be stripped of their office with the same majority that had vested it in them,” he said.

The opposition Democratic Coalition said on Thursday that Peter Polt, the chief prosecutor, would be immediately replaced after a change of government. DK lawmaker and group spokesman Zoltan Varga said in a statement that a new government led by DK prime ministerial candidate Klara Dobrev would by all means fire “the former member of [ruling] Fidesz from the head of the prosecutor’s office”. He said the amendment proposal submitted by the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban revealed that Fidesz was afraid of the strengthening of the opposition. “If they had nothing to fear … there would be no reason for them to cement Peter Polt in his position,” he added.