Parliament is scheduled to hold a debate and a vote on the issue on Monday. Dúró said the move was “a serious impairment of university autonomy, which is declared inviolable by Hungary’s constitution”.

Jobbik asks lawmakers to support their planned request for a review of the amendment by the Constitutional Court, she said, adding that the party would also turn to the Hungarian president and the ombudsman.

Under the proposed amendments in mid-June, the government would have the right to appoint chancellors from September to oversee the financial management and operation of higher education institutions.

The chancellors would have the power to veto decisions that may pose a risk to the institution’s finances. The amendments also include reintroducing the system under which a senate has the power to elect a university’s rector who is proposed by the minister in charge of education and approved by the Hungarian president, Human Resources Minister Zoltán Balog said last week.

László Palkovics, the newly appointed higher education state secretary, said earlier this week that the government would not elect “political commissars” but “experts fitting the profile of universities and high schools” into the positions of chancellor.

The chancellors will be tasked to take over operational duties from rectors, he said.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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