Parliament could vote again on rejected child hunger proposal after clarifications

Budapest, November 13 (MTI) – A proposal on the eradication of child hunger that was rejected by parliament earlier this month could be re-submitted to the legislative body after some clarifications are made to it, state secretary for social affairs Karoly Czibere said late on Thursday.

The motion was originally submitted by opposition lawmakers and was rejected by the co-ruling Christian Democrats (KDNP) to avoid supporting a left-wing campaign. Senior governing Fidesz initially voiced backing for the motion but joined the KDNP in voting against putting it on the parliamentary plenary agenda. The KDNP group leader said at the time that although his party agreed with the proposal, it was an attempt by the opposition to “monopolise” the issue of child hunger.

Asked their refusal to back the original proposal, Czibere said that the government supports “all proposals aimed at eradicating child hunger”. He stressed that the government spent around 29 billion forints (EUR 92.8m) on provding free meals for children as early as 2010 and has allocated 71.7 billion forints to the cause in next year’s budget.

Czibere said the opposition’s proposal was worth discussing and clarifying. “Perhaps it is not too late” to clarify the proposal and then it can be re-submitted to parliament, the state secretary said.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters