Offensive against independent agencies: head of statistical office fired

In the framework of the government's comprehensive onslaught against independent institutions, the prime minister sacked the president of the Central Statistical Office last Thursday on an immediate notice.

Dátum: 2003-11-25 13:26:00, eredeti URL: http://archiv.fidesz.hu/index.php?Cikk=17674
KCMDB-be feltöltve: 2024-05-04 19:11:04.644326, Feltöltő: fidesz_hu_scraper_v2

Mr Tamás Mellár, appointed in 1998 for six years, has not so far been criticised by the socialist-led government on "professional grounds". On the contrary, his professionalism is beyond any doubt: Mr Mellár is the chairman of the Statistical Committee of the United Nations, and he has also been asked by Eurostat to participate in developing the statistical framework of the European Union. Nevertheless, the government cited professional arguments and the "need of a new personality on the threshold of the EU" in favour of sacking him. Although the CSO is subordinated to the Prime Minister's Office, the political independence and non-bias of Hungary's statistical framework must be ensured. Mr Mellár's sacking shows that this will not be the case from now on: in the absence of an economic policy, it is the macroeconomic figures which will be given a political facelift.

Although the firing of the head of a politically independent agency is in itself a phenomenon worthy of attention, it is the context which is particularly alarming. For the Central Statistical Office is by far not the first independent institution to have been targeted by the government on political grounds recently. These attacks are of various nature, spreading from political pressure through intimidation to shaping the legal status of independent institutions in order to get rid of a single person. An amendment recently introduced by the government in Parliament would subordinate the Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority (PSZÁF), hitherto independent in legal and financial terms, to the government and would replace its president by a director appointed by the prime minister himself. The cause is simple: PSZÁF initiated investigations into a scheme of banking fraud and money-laundering which may involve high-ranking persons in and around the current government. The Prosecutor General is regularly attacked by the coalition majority because his investigations into the same affair cannot be impeded. Judges are being intimidated and pressurised by government politicians and intellectuals close to the coalition because some of the judgments are not of their taste. The politically inspired media campaign against the President of the Hungarian National Bank earlier this year aimed at removing him in order to cover expenses with higher inflation.

Fidesz considers that the actions aimed at the political occupation of independent agencies, as highlighted by the example of the financial authority, the prosecution, the courts and the statistical office, have already reached an extent which may seriously compromise the rule of law and the integrity of the democratic establishment in Hungary.

Budapest, 24 November 2003