Opposition presses ahead with its own committee to examine govt's work

Six opposition parties that had proposed holding a special parliamentary session to evaluate the government's performance during the Covid-19 epidemic were unable to proceed for lack of a quorum, but they have pressed ahead with a committee operating outside of the parliamentary framework nonetheless, Bence Tordai, deputy group leader of the Parbeszed party, told a joint online press conference on Monday. The six-party group established by the Socialists, the Democratic Coalition, Jobbik, LMP, Momentum and Parbeszed had originally proposed the special session with a view to setting up three ad-hoc committees to examine the government's economic measures, issues around handling the epidemic in Hungary and vaccine purchases, Tordai said. The ruling Fidesz party called the proposal a "political bluff ... another tool to attack the coronavirus protection efforts."