It is the duty of politicians to talk about the topics which arouse the people’s attention because if they do not listen to them, they will lose touch with reality, Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács told the television channel M1 on Friday morning.

The Government Spokesperson pointed out that when an issue takes centre stage in public debate in the wake of a brutal and senseless murder, politicians must talk about it. Even if it is something “which many say bears no talking about on the basis of laws, written and unwritten rules”. He added: we can only give satisfactory answers to questions if those questions are discussed down to the last detail.

Mr Kovács found it intriguing that there is now a debate, both in Hungary and abroad, on whether the question of the death penalty can at all be mentioned.

“This is strangely reminiscent of whether one may at all raise certain aspects of the issue of illegal migration”, he remarked.

The Government Spokesperson stressed: they made it perfectly clear at the very beginning of the debate that Hungary will observe and fulfil all obligations it has undertaken in this context. Regardless of this, however, we can and must talk about the topics which arouse the people’s attention.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in Pécs on Tuesday that they believed a few years ago that they had put an end to the debates regarding Hungarian penal law and criminal investigation when they introduced the three-strikes law and the institution of life imprisonment without parole. However, the deterrent effect of these measures has in itself proved to be insufficient, and therefore the question of the death penalty must be kept on the agenda in Hungary.

The Government Spokesperson said in the context of the tobacco trading law that “it has come to light that there was a misunderstanding, or in some sense, an automatic practice has evolved concerning the layout and physical appearance of tobacco shops which the relevant legal rule did not prescribe verbatim”.

It is also in the legislator’s best interest to ensure that the original intention – i.e. tobacco products should not be on open display visible to passers-by and should be kept away from minors – should meet with the criterion of guaranteeing the security of those working inside, Mr Kovács stressed.

The Government Spokesperson reiterated that there was a time a few years ago when the number of filling station and bank robberies had increased dramatically. At the time, the industries concerned and security specialists found the means and the devices which helped to enhance security. This is what we need now, too, Mr Kovács stated.

(MTI)