Leftist opposition calls for Hungarian State Audit Office chief’s dismissal

The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) will initiate dismissing the head of the State Audit Office (ÁSZ) whose authority the party says has “paralysed” opposition parties by levying fines on them, DK’s deputy group leader said on Sunday.

Led by László Domokos, a former lawmaker of ruling Fidesz, ÁSZ has fined all of the opposition parties over the past years, Gergely Arató told a press conference, saying that by levying the fines, the authority was “executing a political order”.

ÁSZ has never levied any fine on ruling Fidesz, he said, insisting that contrary to its statute, ÁSZ had not acted as an independent authority.

Arató said ÁSZ had abused the law that says its decisions cannot be appealed in court.

DK will propose to the other opposition parties to initiate in parliament’s Immunity Committee the removal of Domokos from his post.

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Hungary’s State Audit Office responded by firmly rejecting Arató’s statement, calling it an “unfounded accusation” and “an attack on the rule of law”, in a statement.