The Catastrophic Bill on the Electoral System

20 December 2011

Yesterday the proposal to the doubling the number of women in Parliament, which is currently at a meager level of 9%, by accepting a female quota was dismissed by the MPs in a roll call vote.

It is sad to see that even the epresentatives of the governing party who voted without party pressure supported the proposal in a smaller number than in 2007. Those who abstained (MP Ilona, MP Zoltán Balog, MP János Bencsik and MP Endre Gyimesi) had taken a step back compared to their earlier personal standpoint, despite the fact that the current proposal for the quota was a weaker and more compromised version.

There is a problem with our democracy if those, who earlier have supported the quota, do not stand up for it today! Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government have flip flopped from “Yes” in 2007 to “No” in 2011.

In this atmosphere, LMP is even more grateful for the cooperation of those MPs who had the courage to act in the interest of women, and men, namely MP János Halász, MP Bence Rétvári, and MP Tibor Navracsics from the Fidesz Parliamentary Group.

Ms. Katalin Ertsey
Member of the Parliament