Hungary's Controversial New Constitution To Be Voted On Monday

In Hungary, civil society groups have called protests for today to express their opposition to the draft new Constitution (summary of changes) for the country. According to Reuters, the new Constitution has been a long-held goal of the Fidesz Party that last year won a majority of the seats in Hungary's National Assembly. The Party says that the new Constitution, replacing Hungary's Communist-era document, will complete the democratization process that began in 1989.  Critics of the new document, whose text was released only last month, say it reflects Christian and nationalist thinking. A European Parliament group says that while the new document prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, language, religion, political views, national or social origins, ownership of assets, or birth, it does not ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Among the other controversial provisions are ones that protect the life of the fetus beginning at conception and a provision that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. It is expected that the National Assembly will approve the new constitution on Monday and that it will come into force on January 1, 2010. Here is the full text of the proposed Constitution in Hungarian.