Gulyas: Election law changes 'justified, necessary'

Hungary's fresh amendment to the election law was "justified and necessary", the head of the Prime Minister's Office told a news briefing, insisting that the changes would not have an impact on the opposition's ability to cooperate. The changes, he said, were aimed at ensuring that only those parties that can field at least fifty individual candidates would receive central financing. "This has nothing to do with the ability of opposition parties to field candidates..." he said, adding that all parties agreed that election and campaign financing rules had been open to abuse. Under the amended law, political parties will need 25,000 signatures to set up a national list and receive central subsidies, Gulyas said. Also, the the new rules, he said, were passed as a matter of urgency so they could effect before the 2022 elections.