Hungary's prime minister-elect starts naming new cabinet

Budapest - Viktor Orban, whose center-right party Fidesz won a landslide victory in Hungary's general elections this month, named some key members of his future cabinet while speaking to reporters on Thursday.

In a joint press conference with his new appointees, Orban promised a completely new government structure for Hungary.

Tibor Navracsics, 44, formerly leader of Fidesz's parliamentary caucus, has been appointed to head a new Ministry of Public Administration and Justice and will also act as deputy prime minister, Orban said.

Navracsics's new role will combine the functions of the old Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Local Government.

Mihaly Varga, 45, who served as finance minister from 2001 to 2002 in the last Fidesz government and remains one of the party's key economy experts, will head a new prime ministerial secretariat.

"The relationship between the prime minister and the people, and the media, too, must be set on a new footing," Orban said.

Fidesz had signaled earlier that it intends to reduce the number of ministries when it forms a government, with several functions being combined in single "super ministries."

The 46-year-old prime minister-elect said he expects "more comprehensive, faster and more effective work" from the incoming government.

The full cabinet will be unveiled during its inaugural meeting on Monday, Orban said.

Only one minister had already been named before the election: the multi-lingual veteran politician Janos Martonyi, 66, will be Minister of Foreign Affairs, a post he held in the last Fidesz government.

Orban noted that his deputy prime minister will be given new leadership powers, for which modifications to Hungary's constitution will be required.

Fidesz has the mandate to alter the constitution unilaterally thanks to the unprecedented two-thirds majority it secured in the elections on April 11 and 25, which saw the outgoing Socialists punished amid economic uncertainty, record unemployment and numerous high-profile corruption scandals.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/321274,hungarys-prime-minister-elect-starts-naming-new-cabinet.html.