Chief Medical Officer Reported for Abuse of Office After Misaddressed Email
Independent MP Bernadett Szél announced charges would be brought against Cecília Müller for abuse of office. The Chief Medical Officer turned down another independent lawmaker, Ákos Hadházy’s request for information of public interest. Her email to colleagues was then likely misaddressed and sent to Hadházy, its content causing an uproar.
It began with Hadházy’s request for Müller to make the contracts of a project of HUF 17 billion (EUR 47.4 million) in EU funds available to him.
However, after the “normal” response time expired, Müller extended it to a further 45 days, arguing that “its fulfillment would jeopardize the epidemiological control.”
Ombudsman Orders Probe into Conditions at Kalocsa Orphanage
The ombudsman for fundamental rights has ordered a review of the conditions at a children’s home in Kalocsa, in southern Hungary, based on media reports and lawmaker accounts of “serious concerns” and allegations regarding the institution, the ombudsman’s office said on Monday.
Independent MP Bernadett Szél announced that she was turning to the ombudsman and the human resources ministry over reports of child abuse at the Kalocsa orphanage in August last year.
The ombudsman’s office said in a statement that it had conducted a surprise inspection of the children’s home last Thursday, interviewing children and staff.
The government-pushed but debated model change of the Hungarian universities rolls on. Lately, all four medical universities voted to switch to the new foundation-based working model. For now, however, the reform is accompanied by haste, mistrust, uncertainty, and opposition. Former minister and Constitutional Judge István Stumpf’s appointment can bring new impetus to the completion of the government’s will.
It all started with the transformation of Corvinus University, completed in 2019. As of the current standing, only ten of Hungary’s 26 state-maintained universities would keep the old model by the end of the year, the others will be led by foundations in which members were and are appointed by the government, but after that they will have absolute power over the privatized institutions.
Following the prison sentence of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who was sent to prison for more than two and a half years on Tuesday, many Hungarian opposition politicians spoke up and condemned the verdict while also criticizing the Orbán government for not commenting on the incident.
Expressing support for Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is a “moral obligation, just like it is an obligation to protect Russian democracy and the freedom of publicity, based on our common European values,” the mayor of Budapest said on Facebook on Wednesday.
“We are witnessing a cowardly attempt to intimidate the critics of the regime and silence the Russian people’s desire for freedom,” he added.
Politicians have submitted their yearly asset declarations, with no major changes in comparison to one year ago. While the Prime Minister has no savings, Cabinet Chief Antal Rogán’s assets have further grown due to his invention. Former PM Ferenc Gyurcsány’s company Altus has had a worse year, while it seems a Jobbik politician owns the most properties, and according to the official asset decalaration, a young LMP politician is the wealthiest member of parliament.
Government and Fidesz politicians
Similarly to his last year’s declaration,
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán supposedly has no liquid assets, or savings at all, possessing only two properties: one in Budapest’s 12th district and one in his hometown of Felcsút. He repaid a further fraction of the loan taken out together with his wife in 2002, now owing HUF 882,000 (Eur 2,477).