You could say that Hungary was already "immunocompromised." A
decade under the nation's illiberal nationalist prime minister,
Viktor Orban, has corroded the state's checks and balances, cowed
the judiciary, enfeebled civil society and the free press, and
reconfigured electoral politics to the advantage of Orban's ruling
Fidesz party. So, when the coronavirus pandemic hit, Budapest's
ailing democracy proved all too vulnerable.
On Monday, Hungary's parliament passed a controversial bill that gave Orban sweeping emergency powers for an indefinite period of time. Parliament is closed, future elections were called off, existing laws can be suspended and the prime minister is now entitled to rule by decree. Opposition lawmakers had tried to set a time limit on the legislation but failed. Orban's commanding two-thirds parliamentary majority made his new powers a fait accompli.
On Monday, Hungary's parliament passed a controversial bill that gave Orban sweeping emergency powers for an indefinite period of time. Parliament is closed, future elections were called off, existing laws can be suspended and the prime minister is now entitled to rule by decree. Opposition lawmakers had tried to set a time limit on the legislation but failed. Orban's commanding two-thirds parliamentary majority made his new powers a fait accompli.
/.../
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/31/coronavirus-kills-its-first-democracy/
+
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/29/the-guardian-view-on-hungarys-coronavirus-law-orbans-power-grab
.de
https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/news-ungarn-coronavirus-usa-markus-soeder-olaf-scholz-a-51098517-286e-447e-8a7e-2761270bebdf
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