Hungary should change its laws on public assembly, a lawmaker from the ruling FIDESZ party has said following last week’s massive anti-government protest in Budapest.

While FIDESZ MP Gergely Gulyas rejected suggestions the proposal to change legislation was prompted by the demonstration, he said that “putting up tents in front of the Parliament buildingfor months is an abuse of the law”.  

hungarytoday.hu quoted Guly?s as telling daily newspaper N?pszabads?g that changes would ban differentdemonstrations held at the same location and limit their duration.

Thousands of people marched in the streets of Budapest on 2 January to protest against the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, accusing him of drawing Hungary further away from other European Union member states and strengthening ties with Russia.

Demonstrators in Budapest also said they were concerned over the government’s policy on centralization in education and public administration.

Orban has opposed sanctions against Russia imposed by the EU and US over Moscow’s support for pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. He has said sanctions hurt Europeans more than they hurt Moscow, and has vowed to press for their abolition.

According to Andr?s Schiffer, co-leader of green opposition LMP party, the government should refrain from “forcefully changing the legal framework that allows citizens to protest.” 

The left-wing opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) has said it finds the plans flagged by Gulyas unacceptable. “The Orb?n regime is afraid of nothing more than its own people,” former PM Ferenc Gyurcsany’s party said.