THE Hungarian Parliament chose a close ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orban to be the country’s new president Wednesday, guaranteeing that his conservative Fidesz party will be able to pass laws at will without interference.

    Janos Ader, a European Parliament lawmaker, was elected to a five-year term by a vote of 262-40. In his inaugural speech, the new president promised to “avail himself fully of both his constitutional rights and obligations.”

    He called upon Hungarians in his acceptance speech to show one another respect even if they disagree.

    “It is my earnest belief that we Hungarians will be able to prove our vitality only if we are able to discuss our problems, gently on occasion, fiercely on other occasions and if need be, but always maintaining our respect for one another,” Ader said.

    He also stressed the importance of upholding Hungary’s new constitution, which took effect on Jan. 1 this year.

    “Our Basic Law declares that Hungary is an independent and democratic republic governed by the rule of law. It is based on universal human values and our national traditions. I am convinced that our new Basic Law outlines the right track and the right framework for us to always find the right answers as a political nation to the basic questions and challenges of the 21st century.”   

    Ader, nominated by the ruling Fidesz-Christian-Democratic alliance, received 262 votes in favor in a secret ballot.

    Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Wednesday that Parliament had made the best possible decision by electing Ader. Describing him as an “anchor,” Orban told journalists the decision had been the best one for the task of “setting in motion and stabilizing” the constitution.

    “We know the president, we respect him and think highly of him,” he said.

    Orban nominated Ader for the post on April 16 after Pal Schmitt resigned after Hungary’s Semmelweis University stripped him of his doctoral degree over charges that he had plagiarized his 1992 thesis.

    The choice is sure to fan increasing tensions between Budapest and the European Union. The EU and civil rights groups fear that Orban and Fidesz are engaged in a power grab that restricts basic freedoms and civil rights in Hungary, an EU member.

    Ader fanned those fears, addressing Parliament in a speech peppered with nationalist imagery after taking the oath of office Wednesday.

    “I say to the people of the neighboring countries, and to our allies in the European Union and NATO, we offer them friendship and respect — which also means that we expect the same respect and friendship back,” Ader said. “The homeland before all else!”    

    While Hungary’s presidency is largely ceremonial, the head of state has the power to send bills back to Parliament for reconsideration or refer them to the Constitutional Court. Ader is expected to follow his predecessor’s example of signing into law every bill that crosses his desk. He was instrumental in drafting controversial changes to Hungary’s judiciary that prompted the European Commission to refer the Hungarian Government to the European Court of Justice.

    Ader takes the post at a critical time for the central European country, which is seeking a new loan from the European Union and International Monetary Fund in order to avert a funding crisis and cut its high borrowing costs.

    “You should not expect Ader to become a power check and resist the prime minister, that’s not what you can read from his carrier,” said Attila Juhasz, a political analyst at think tank Political Capital.

    “It’s also important that the president elected now will be in office until 2017, and the office will be held by someone from the innermost circles of Fidesz even if the party loses the 2014 (parliamentary) elections.”

    “The main criterion for Ader’s election was loyalty to the governing majority,” said Orsolya Szomszed, an analyst at the Nezopont Institute in Budapest.

    The Hungarian Socialist Party, the largest opposition formation in Parliament, boycotted the presidential election. “If we look at Janos Ader, his person fits all the criteria for party soldier,” Socialist party president Attila Mesterhazy said.

    The green-liberal LMP also stayed away, while the far-right Jobbik party voted against Ader.

    Critics complain the new constitution erases checks and balances on state power — and Fidesz controls virtually all state power by virtue of its two-thirds majority in Parliament. That proves problematic for a president who is supposed to serve as a check on the government, said Szabolcs Kerek-Barczy, managing director of the Freedom and Reform Institute, a Budapest-based conservative think tank. “Nobody in this country can be a protector of the rule of law and checks and balances and comply with the current constitution at the same time,” Kerek-Barczy said.     

    Ader drafted the Orban administration’s 2011 overhaul of the judiciary system, which the European Commission has referred to the European Court of Justice over concerns that it limits courts’ independence. He is also the architect of Hungary’s new election system, which the opposition parties say will tilt future elections in Fidesz’s favor.

    Ader will formally take office on May 10 as Hungary’s fifth democratically elected president and the country’s youngest president since 1989. However, he is due to represent Hungary at the weekend for a Visegrad group meeting in Slovakia, which also involves Poland and the Czech Republic.

    The transition is not expected to have any impact on the government’s political agenda as the president’s post is to a great extent ceremonial.

    After almost three years as a member of European Parliament, Ader inherits an office tarnished by the resignation of Schmitt.

    Ader defended Hungary’s constitution that Fidesz rewrote last year, and which critics said helped cement the party’s power beyond the end of its current term in 2014.

    “It is my belief that our new constitution provides from all aspects an adequate direction and framework to find the right solutions to the fundamental issues and challenges of the 21st century,” Ader told Parliament.

    The president may dissolve Parliament under certain conditions and has the right to send back laws to parliament or to the country’s top constitutional court if he believes the legislation may be unconstitutional.

    However, Ader is unlikely to block legislation drafted by Fidesz.

    By choosing an ally, Orban has also pleased his own Fidesz party where Ader is a popular and respected politician.     

    As a Hungarian politician, Ader is one of the earliest leaders of Fidesz (Alliance of Young Democrats). He joined the party in April 1988 and is one of its legal experts. He headed Fidesz’s election campaigns in 1990 and 1994, and has been a deputy leader of the party on four occasions. He served as Speaker of Parliament between 1998 and 2002. In the 2009 European Parliament election he became a member of the European Parliament.

    On April 16, 2012, he was appointed by the Fidesz party, and Prime Minister Viktor Orban, to become the new President of Hungary after the resignation of Schmitt.(SD-Agencies)