Sawt Falasteen - Hungarian lawmakers back constitutional curbs on LGBTQ people, dual nationals

Since his return to power in 2010, Hungary's leader has widely restricted the rights of the LGBTQ community, the media, courts and academia. In mid-March, he vowed to undertake an "Easter cleanup" against his domestic opponents he has called "stink bugs".

The constitutional amendment -- which proclaims that people can only be male or female -- echoes moves on gender by Orban's ally US President Donald Trump.

It also allows the "temporary" stripping of citizenship from some dual or multiple nationals, which could target Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros, a regular fixture of populist conspiracy theories.

Ahead of the vote on the amendment -- which passed parliament with 140 votes in favour to 21 against -- a few dozen protesters temporarily blocked an entrance to parliament before police hauled them off.

"When we chained ourselves up during the constitution's first overhaul in 2011, we never thought that 14 years later, we would have to do the same thing," said opposition lawmaker Timea Szabo.

Opposition politicians from the liberal Momentum unfurled a banner to protest the vote in parliament, while hundreds of protesters outside the building chanted "We will not allow ourselves to be transformed into Putin's Russia".

Ruby, a 19-year-old transgender woman, who declined to give her surname, told AFP that she joined the rally to stand up against the government which seeks "to eliminate transgender people" and "hide what they don't like, just as in Russia".

- Raft of changes -

Besides the provision proclaiming that people can only be male or female, another declares that children's rights for their "proper physical, mental and moral development take precedence over all other fundamental rights", except the right to life.

That provision is seen as a way to strengthen the legal foundations for the prohibition of the Pride march.

Another prominent provision empowers the government to temporarily strip Hungarian citizenship from dual or multiple nationals -- even if they acquired their nationalities by birth.

The governing party suggested the move is aimed at "speculators" financing "bogus NGOs, bought politicians and the so-called independent media" from abroad.

A related piece of legislation -- to be voted on at a later date -- specifies that Hungarian citizenship can be suspended for a maximum of 10 years and those affected can be expelled from the country.

Nationals from other EU member states would be exempt, together with a few other countries in Europe, according to the proposal.

Last week, more than 30 prominent Hungarian legal experts castigated the measure as "an unprecedented construction in international law" that could be contrary to binding human rights conventions.

- 'Soft Putinism' -

Critics say the proposed legal changes further erode democratic rights in the central European country, moving the EU member state even closer to the kind of authoritarianism seen under Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

"You could consider this soft Putinism," Szabolcs Pek, chief analyst at the think tank Iranytu Intezet, told AFP.

"People are not falling out of the window, but the government is increasingly limiting the space for opposition politicians, journalists and civil society," he said.

Politically, the measures are seen as an effort to shore up dwindling support for the ruling coalition, divide the opposition along ideological lines, and court the far right ahead of next spring's parliamentary election.

Orban's legislative "boisterousness" is a bid to take back control of the public agenda, according to Pek.

"In this respect, he has been successful, because public discourse is no longer about the failing public services or the weak economy," Pek said.

Since last year, Orban has faced an unprecedented challenge from former government insider-turned-opposition leader Peter Magyar, whose TISZA party has been eroding Fidesz's longtime solid lead, according to opinion polls.

Pek stressed the Pride ban is a "trap" for Magyar: standing up for LGBTQ rights could lose him conservative supporters, but his current silence might drive left-wing and liberal voters to other opposition parties.

J.Saleh--SF-PST