Magyar Hírek, 1985 (38. évfolyam, 2-26. szám)
1985-08-22 / 17-18. szám
ABOUT THIS ISSUE In the Hungarian section of the present issue there is an illustrated article about Parliament, the turreted, domed palace on the Danube embankment, which became an emblem of Budapest in the course of the past almost one hundred years. The article is timely for two reasons: one is that Imre Steindl, one of the outstanding architects of the turn of the century completed the design of Parliament one hundred years ago, thus opening the way to its construction, which took twenty years. The great building (of slightly exaggerated proportions, as its critics said) was built between 1884 and 1904. Parliament, with the square in front' of it and the statues of Ferenc Rákóczi and Lajos Kossuth, is one of the prize features of the Hungarian capital—and is the forum of Hungarian public life: it houses Parliament, the Presidential Council and the Council of Ministers, and lends its halls as a venue of ceremonial events ranging from handing over various distinctions and state prizes to the heart-warming children’s feast held in the Christmas season around a tall pine in the cupola-hall, each year the most beautiful pine Hungarian foresters can find. An important event also lends timeliness to the article: the Parliament elected under the terms of the new Electoral Act held its constituent meeting there recently. After the opening address by Pál Losonczi, Lajos Papp reported on the elections on behalf of the control commission. He told the assembly that the elec- Fons were held with a high standard of activity on the part of the voters and that the stipulations of the Act were fully met. Local bodies presiding over the elections received 46 objections related to meetings nominating people for Parliament. Two of these were found to be wellfounded, and the results of these meeting were annulled, and new ones were held. A total of 28 objections were raised to meetings nominating people for Councils, and the relevant local bodies accepted ten of these of total of 363 representatives were elected. In one electoral district two of the three people nominated w'thdrew subsequently, thus no second round has been held there yet. After the report of the mandates committee, stating that the committee examined the mandates and found them in order István Sarlós was elected President of Parliament. The session proceeded then to elect the Presidential Council—Pál Losonczi was re-elected as President of the Presidential Council of the Hungarian People’s Republic. János Kádár, General Secretary of the HSWP, is among the seventeen members of the Presidential Council. Parliament went on to elect the Constitutional Council, the body competent to give decision on constitutional law disputes, then parliamentary committees were formed the same way. István Sarlós submitted the recommendation of the Presidential Council, on the basis of which the new government was elected. György Lázár was re-elected as President of the Council of Ministers, with Dr Judit Csehák, Dr László Maróthy. Lajos Faluvégi and József Marjai as deputy premiers. No change was made in the composition of the government. In his inaugural address, György Lázár, the President of the Council of Ministers emphasised that the programme of the government will introduce and put to public debate the ideas it intends to realize in order to give wider scope to independent and responsible actions of the administrative and economic organizations and to the assertion of personal talents. “We are aware” - he said—“that the qualitative renewal of the economy can only be realized in favourable political conditions, where people working for the community enjoy respect, where diligence and knowledge receive just appreciation. Therefore we want to describe the plans we have for the further institutionalization of socialist democracy for the development of science, culture and education, and for increasing the moral and material appreciation of work well done.” The opening session of parliament ended with closing words by István Sarlós. The Vernacular Conference taking place in Veszprém between 5th and 10th August was preceeded with considerable expectations all round the world, wherever Hungarian communities live preserving, and caring for our native language. I believe that the attention paid to our native language by Hungarians has increased. The renaissance of caring for the language, of Which we are witnesses and participants, has been the consequence of the increased Hungarian sense of identity of people living far away as well as the enthusiasm evident in this country in caring for the language. The great interest of the public given to the recently published new edition of the spelling rules of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences appears as evidence. In the preparatory committee of the Academy representatives of literature, the printing industry, journalism and the most varied other fields worked together with linguists, then a draft of the rules was subjected to a series of public discussion, and the recommendations received there were fully considered by the final text. This is what Dezső Keresztury wrote about the new spelling rules: “... the Hungarian language ... has gone through extensive changes in the course of the past half-century. It had not changed nearly as much in a hundred years as it did during the past forty or fifty years. The reason for this is that Hungarian society, the economy and culture have become completely rearranged and the changed country had to find its place in a changed world... Production and society, power structure and world outlook, journalism and literature have suffered great seismic shocks at home just as well as everywhere in the world . . . The changes of life are also expressed by the language: the forces of tradition and change clash in order to settle and forms of exposition have been and are going through never before experienced changes.” Important work is awaiting the Vernacular Conference of this year which wants—among other things— to inform on changes in progress in the Hungarian language, everything that enriches the power of expression, and makes our language more beautiful and more Hungarian. ZOLTÁN HALÄSZ CHRONICLE Jubilee of Budapest University The University of Budapest is celebrating the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its foundation this year. Prince Primate Péter Pázmány founded this university in 1635 at Nagyszombat, a town in the part of Hungary that was free of Turkish occupation. The university moved to Buda in 1777, and a few years later to Pest. The 1985/86 educational year will pass under the sign of the jubilee of the university. The three and a half centuries in the course of which the university enriched the whole of Hungarian culture with a multitude of scholars and experts was remembered at a special assembly, several honorary degrees were conferred, and an exhibition was opened recently at the Historical Museum of Budapest displaying the history of the university, recalling the past centuries with beautiful relics, text books and ancient pieces of experimental equipment. Budapest convention of doctors for the prevention of nuclear warfare The international movement of doctors fighting for the prevention of nuclear warfare held its fifth convention in the Budapest Congress Hall. Zsuzsa Hollán, Member of the Academy, and chairperson of the convention opened the four-day proceedings, then János Kádár, General Secretary of the HSWP spoke emphasising that in accordance with the interests and wishes of the Hungarian people, the Hungarian government was doing everything in its power in its international activities to avoid war, and to stop the armaments race in the interest of peaceful coexistence, developing the relations of countries of different social systems. This is also evident in the fact that thousands of Hungarian doctors joined the movement fighting for the prevention of nuclear warfare. “We are zealous backers of the prohibition of nuclear arms, of disarmament” said János Kádár—“and aim to establish the security of the parties involved at the lowest possible level of arms. We trust that the questions at issue can be solved by way of negotiations.” The principal report of the convention was delivered by Willy Brandt, chairman of the German Social Democratic Party. He emphasised that the defence of the peace was not simply a political or scholarly question, but a fundamental task that forces the nations of the world to cooperate. Dr. Victor W. Sidel, professor at the Albert Einstein University, USA, president of the American Medical Association analysed the negative effect the armaments race exerted on the health situation of the world. Evgeni Chasev, Soviet co-president of the international movement pointed out that vast resources could be freed for the service of humanity by ending military confrontation. Concluding the discussions, the Convention unanimously passed a call, in which they asked for restraints in the development of nuclear armaments. AN ANTE-ROOM IN PARLIAMENT photo by ferenc markovics 60
