Parties of the opposition and independent MPs have called an extraordinary session of parliament for next Tuesday to address “an ever increasing housing crisis” impacting troubled forex debtors.
In a statement, MPs of Jobbik, the Socialist Party, the Democratic Coalition, Párbeszéd, LMP and independent MP Bernadett Szél said that “the issue cannot suffer any delay because the evictions moratorium ended on April 30 and further thousands of families could find themselves in the street”. Last year, some 3,000 families lost their homes, signatories to the statement said.
The opposition demands that the state should help those in trouble. Although the basic law stipulates that Hungary “shall strive to provide every person with decent housing” and the related law declares the local governments’ obligation to prevent homelessness, the state is “doing nothing” to improve the situation, they said.
The opposition parties voiced hope that MPs of the ruling parties would attend the meeting and “elaborate how the government wishes to prevent families with small children, elderly and sick people from being evicted and what long-term solution they have for the decade-long forex crisis”
The ruling Fidesz party said in response that the proposal was “an empty campaign manoeuvre”. The special session was initiated by the same opposition politicians who, when in power, introduced and approved the forex loan scheme in the first place, the party said. “The Asset Manager has offered to rescue 36,000 families over the past years,” Fidesz said. “So far almost 20,000 have said they will take up the offer.”