The new legislative assembly of Hungary was only a few hours old when a former skinhead – if there is such a thing – was elected Deputy Speaker of Parliament . Looking at it from merely an editorial standpoint this is great, because it most likely means that the four years to follow will not be boring. Then again, this way Tamás Sneider is only a few heartbeats away from becoming acting president of the country. If something were to happen to President Áder, Speaker Kövér and the other deputies, Sneider would have to fill in. There are a number of things though that make this a much lesser issue than many would have you think it is. First of all, the presidency in Hungary is nothing like the one in the US. Though Áder is officially the commander-in-chief and he can pardon criminals and call a referendum, the role of the president is by and large ceremonial. Second: Sneider was an MP and committee chair for the past four years and even LMP’s committee member admits that he was a fair chairman. Third: the scenario mentioned above is extremely unlikely. But there is still one significant problem with all but four Fidesz MPs saying yea to his nomination: with this they were saying that they have no problem with Tamás Sneider potentially becoming president, whose primary role – according to the Constitution – is to “embody the unity of the nation”. I doubt Sneider would ever be able to do that.
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