Hungary's opposition protests agains the government

As Hungary's ruling party celebrated its achievements insidethe nation’s 19th century opera house on Monday, thousands of Hungarians rallied outside in a rare opposition protest at what critics see as a campaign by Prime Minister Viktor Orban to undermine democracy and consolidate his power. The protest — a day after the country’s new “majoritarian” Constitution took effect — was the first time that opposition groups, from political parties to civil organizations, joined forces to rally against the new Constitution, which was drawn up and ratified by Mr. Orban’s Fidesz party in defiance of criticism from Europe and the United States. Fidesz used its two-thirds supermajority in Parliament to adopt the Constitution, which critics say tightens the government’s grip on the news media and the courts and dismantles democratic aspects of the judiciary. Last month, the government passed a measure that critics said seriously weakened the independence of the nation’s central bank. “Democracy has disappeared in Hungary, they even took the republic from us,” said Tamas Kollar, 56, referring to his nation’s name change, from the Republic of Hungary to simply Hungary. Mr. Kollar said he said he felt robbed of his rights under Mr. Orban’s government.