RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE  24 March 2000

HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT DEBATES BILL ON BANNER DISPLAY. Marta
Matrai of the governing Federation of Young Democrats-
Hungarian Civic Party has proposed to the parliament that the
national flag be displayed on all public buildings at all
times, Hungarian media reported on 23 March. Andras Csaky of
the coalition member Democratic Forum said the amendment aims
at strengthening national awareness. Opposition Free Democrat
Imre Mecs replied by saying that "patriotism is an issue of
conscience that produces its opposite when forced." His
remarks were received with "pleasure" by Independent
Smallholder Zsolt Lanyi, who commented that Mecs's comments
"show who is a real Hungarian." MSZ

FIDESZ SUBMITS MEDIA ACT AMENDMENT. Szilard Sasvari, a member
of FIDESZ and chairman of the parliament's cultural and press
committee, has submitted a motion on amending the media law.
In an attempt to resolve the recent dispute between the
coalition and the opposition parties, Sasvari proposed six-
member boards of trustees of public media outlets, instead of
the current eight-member boards. According to the proposal,
each of the six parliamentary groups would nominate one
member of the boards. The strongest coalition party would
provide the chairman of the board, while the deputy chairman
would be nominated by the strongest opposition party. The
opposition Free Democrats signaled earlier that they would
support six-member media boards. MSZ

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