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Hungary Presidential Council
In 1989 the Constitution described the Presidential
Council
as subordinate to the National Assembly and superordinate
to the
Council of Ministers. However, the Presidential Council
was in
fact the highest state organ and, because the National
Assembly
met so infrequently, it acted as an ersatz parliament. In
early
1989, the chairman of the Presidential Council was Bruno
F.
Straub, at the time the only noncommunist chief of state
in
Eastern Europe.
The Presidential Council had combined legislative and
executive powers. It set the date for elections to the
National
Assembly, convened the National Assembly, initiated
legislation,
and decreed national plebiscites. The Presidential Council
also
contributed to the normal functioning of state life by
concluding
and ratifying treaties, receiving the credentials of
foreign
ambassadors, electing professional judges, and conferring
awards
and titles. The Presidential Council supervised the local
councils by setting the date for council elections,
ensuring the
rights of the councils, and dissolving those councils that
infringed on the Constitution. When the National Assembly
was not
in session, the Presidential Council assumed the powers of
a
parliament. In fact, the Presidential Council performed
most of
the government's legislative work. (The National Assembly
usually
approved the decree-laws of the Presidential Council at
its next
session.) In the event of war or threat to the security of
the
state, the Presidential Council could establish a National
Defense Council with extraordinary powers.
In addition to these legislative and executive duties,
the
members of the Presidential Council undertook a number of
other
tasks. They participated in the committee work of the
National
Assembly
(see National Assembly
, this ch.), held meetings
with
constituents, and handled complaints about the bureaucracy
from
the citizenry. Members could represent Hungary abroad and
hold
meetings with foreign delegations. They also visited
county and
district governments and participated in awards
ceremonies.
In 1989 the secretariat of the Presidential Council
consisted
of a division for justice, which handled pardons for
criminals; a
division for civil proceedings; a division for law; and a
division for honors and decorations. These divisions had
their
own organizational statutes. The secretariat lacked a
permanent
organizational structure because new divisions could be
created
according to need.
In the late 1980s, the Presidential Council remained a
rather
secretive body. The media did not publish its discussions
and
debates. The Presidential Council also did not announce
its
voting procedures.
In 1989 the Presidential Council consisted of a
chairman, two
deputy chairmen, a secretary, and seventeen members at
large. The
National Assembly elected these members from among its own
delegates, although the Central Committee of the HSWP
actually
made the choices. Both party members and nonparty members
could
be selected for the Presidential Council--including its
leadership positions--although party members generally
predominated. Three rules seemed to have governed the
Central
Committee's selections: the council had to be a
representative
body mirroring the occupational and social structure of
the
population, it had to contain a number of well-known
people in
public life, and it had to include several party leaders.
The
Presidential Council thus was made up of party leaders, as
well
as representatives of social and political groups,
including
national minorities, peasants, and women. Church leaders
who
supported the regime also were selected. A few members
were
nominated because of their policy expertise in a given
field. For
example, because the secretary not only supervised the
secretariat of the council but also helped to determine
its
political line and handle its day-to-day affairs, that
official
usually had had previous experience in the personnel
administration of the HSWP.
Data as of September 1989
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