The opposition stymied the government’s protection efforts against the novel coronavirus by refusing to debate extending special measures in an extraordinary session of parliament, Zoltán Kovács, the state secretary for international communications and relations, said in a video.
The lawmakers of Jobbik, the Socialist Party, the Democratic Coalition, LMP and Párbeszéd on Monday voted against the bill arguing that it fails to set a time limit for maintaining the state of emergency.
Their move worked against “the command of cooperation” required in a situation like this, Kovács said. The state secretary noted that some measures including the decision to close Hungary’s borders to vehicles arriving from certain countries and the closure of kindergartens and nurseries would expire before Parliament would have a chance to extend them next Tuesday. “The opposition is causing chaos because these measures will need to be adopted again,” he said.