BUDAPEST, March 11 (Reuters) – Hungary’s ruling party is set to push through changes to the constitution on Monday that critics say will curb democratic rights, despite warnings from European leaders and a protest by thousands of people in Budapest at the weekend.<\/p>\n
The changes are seen by critics as the latest in a series of moves by centre-right Fidesz party to cement its position in public institutions via its large parliamentary majority.<\/p>\n
They scrap all decisions by the country’s top Constitutional Court made before the new constitution entered into force in 2012, discarding a body of law often used as reference.<\/p>\n
They also create room for restrictive new regulations in higher education, homelessness, electoral law and family law — the main focus of Saturday’s protest in the capital.<\/p>\n
European leaders have warned they may run counter to European Union rules and civil groups planned a further protest on Monday evening to urge President Janos Ader to veto them.<\/p>\n
The forint fell more than one percent to the euro to new 9-month lows at 303 on concerns about the vote and steps by the central bank’s new Governor Gyorgy Matolcsy to curb the powers of two of his vice governors.<\/p>\n
Gergely Gulyas, deputy leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group, told the right-wing daily Magyar Nemzet Fidesz had no reason to put off the vote despite “domestic and international kerfuffle.”<\/p>\n