There is enormous interest in the national consultation, and while the final deadline for returning the questionnaires is far away, based on Monday morning’s aggregated data, as many as 396,000 persons have already completed the questionnaire, the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister announced.

In answer to a question asked before the start of ordinary business in Parliament, Csaba Dömötör said this proves that the questions of the national consultation are topical and important questions which concern us all and about which it is well worth stating our opinions. During the coronavirus epidemic, Hungary was one of the countries which were the most successful and most effective in the fight against the epidemic, and the government would like this to stay that way. Therefore, the virus must be kept outside the borders, the politician pointed out. He recalled that due to this the cabinet had decided on restrictions on entry into the country, and had classified countries into three – red, yellow and green – categories.

The State Secretary stressed that the national consultation will provide a clear picture about the measures that are most supported by the Hungarian people.

Mr Dömötör stated, however, that the opposition keeps “torpedoing the consultation” over and over again. According to news reports, they remove the questionnaires from letter boxes in some places, while elsewhere they cut off the parts featuring personal data. Momentum scribbles obscene contents on the questionnaires, while there are serious question marks about how independent Member of Parliament Ákos Hadházy is handling personal data, he listed the problems.

The politician said they do not understand why left-wing parties want to prevent the people from stating their opinions about the epidemic and the fight against the epidemic. Now that they were unable to make any meaningful contribution to the containment effort, they should at least not prevent a dialogue, he said.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)