Hungary’s parliament revokes emergency powers invoked by Orban govt

Deputies in the Hungarian parliament passed a law on Tuesday to withdraw the special powers granted to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government to tackle the coronavirus crisis, Reuters reported.

Orban secured extra powers at the end of March –with an open-ended mandate– to fight the coronavirus, allowing his government to pass decrees.

From early last month, the government in Budapest gradually ended a national lockdown as the epidemic there subsided.

Orban had said earlier that parliament, which is dominated by his Fidesz party, could at any time, and without MPs’ consent, cancel the special powers invoked to manage the country.