András Domány

Miklós Kásler was temporarily deprived of his authority.

Coronavirus: the second wave, the second closure

Later than expected by many, but in mid-November, the Hungarian government also decided to try to curb the second wave of the coronavirus epidemic by introducing restrictions. At the time of the decision, 5,000 new infections had been identified per day and the number of deaths from the virus was mostly between 50 and 100 in 24 hours. The first step is partial closure, but how effective it is is questionable. Follow our news!

According to a government decree published on Wednesday, “the General Directorate of the National Hospital (hereinafter OKFŐ) is headed by the Minister responsible for the police (hereinafter, the Minister) appointed as head of the operational personnel during the emergency.” Last Wednesday, OKFŐ was established, which runs all public hospitals, including national medical institutions. It exercises the rights of the employer over all employees, controls the management and many other tasks are detailed in the regulations. The government can even grant rights to the general directorate in relation to university clinics and military institutions.

The law, promulgated on the night of November 17, further stated: “The General Directorate of the National Hospital is a central budgetary body under the direction of the Minister of Health, which acts as the central office.” In other words, he was subordinate to Miklós Kásler, Minister of Human Resources. The decree of November 25 now changes this for the duration of the emergency. It is true that “the operational personnel are directed by the Minister of Police with the participation of the Minister of Health”, but according to the cited sentence, now Sándor Pintér, Minister of the Interior, has clearly become the head of all hospitals.

Thus, for example, he and not Kásler can issue OKFŐ’s organizational and operational rules. Decree No. 25 literally reiterates among 17 that “the general director of a national hospital is appointed and dismissed by the Prime Minister at the proposal of the Minister” and he is his employer, but while “Minister” meant Kásler there, For a pint . And since on November 18 the Prime Minister had already appointed a general director of health of the national hospital at the suggestion of Kásler, he never worked in the health area, but Zoltán Jenei served under Pintér until 2002. Furthermore, this means that starting tomorrow, during an emergency, the Minister of the Interior may initiate the replacement of a newly appointed leader at the proposal of his fellow minister if he is not satisfied with him.


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