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On January 4 the constitutional court partially overturned an electoral law, which had been passed by parliament at the end of November, striking out a requirement for voters to register no later than 15 days before polling day. However, the daily argues that the new electoral system remains very advantageous to Fidesz, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s party, such as conditions on voting jurisdictions, single round voting and the inclusion of Serbian, Romanian and Slovakian Magyars in the electorate.
Registration rule dropped, but some tricks remain – Népszava
“Two years after the first Lagarde List,” containing the names of several hundred Greek citizens with bank accounts in Switzerland, “many grey areas still remain,” writes the daily. The newspaper lists 11 aspects of the story, from the manner in which the file containing the list was received by Giorgos Papakonstantinou to the role of the socialist former finance minister’s cousin in the removal of certain names from the file, which will have to be scrutinised by investigators and the ad hoc parliamentary commission, which is to begin work in mid-January.
Grey areas on the list – Ta Nea
Northern Ireland Police are blaming the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force for an escalation in post-Christmas street violence linked to the month-long dispute over reducing from 365 to 20, the number of days the Union flag is flown over Belfast City Hall. Bottles, petrol bombs and bricks have been hurled at police officers for four consecutive nights.
Out of control – The Belfast Telegraph
During the Military Year celebration, known as the Military Easter, Spanish Defence Minister, Pedro Morenés talked of “absurd provocation”, regarding rumours of an army intervention in the eventuality of a push for Catalan independence. The minister was responding to complaints by four Catalan MEPs angry at Spanish army aircraft flights over Catalonia in recent months.
Morenés praises “military serenity in face of provocation” – La Vanguardia
The government will have to change its plan for a 75 per cent tax in the wake of the Constitutional Council’s December 29 decision to reject the measure, which it described as “confiscatory.” Budget Minister Jérôme Cahuzac has said that the 75 per cent rate, which is too open to legal challenges, will be up for review. Both the rate and the duration of contributions linked to high incomes, which played a major role in François Hollande’s election campaign, will be modified.
75% tax: a headache for the government – Les Echos
Companies that made use of asbestos may be held responsible for occupational diseases contracted by their staff at any time after 1949. The daily draws this conclusion on the basis of two recent rulings by a court in The Hague with regard to claims made by former construction workers suffering from mesothelioma. Until now, companies were not supposed to have been aware of the risks associated with asbestos before the 1960s.
Court: limit on asbestos claims to be pushed back to 1949 – Trouw
According to poll conducted by the daily, left-wing former prime minister Miloš Zeman is the favourite to win the first round of presidential elections on January 12 and 13, with 25 per cent of the vote. Zeman is the frontrunner, ahead of another former prime minister, economist Jan Fischer, independent candidate Vladimír Franz, ČSSD social democrat Jiří Dienstbier, and Karel Schwarzenberg of the liberal-conservative TOP 09. The vote will be the first ever universal suffrage election of a Czech president.
Zeman wins, Fischer loses, and the three others wait for a mistake. – Mladá Fronta DNES
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