He refused to hand over the ownership of real estate used by churches at the Thursday meeting of the Hódmezővásárhely General Assembly, where the question of a sexual insult allegedly committed by a representative was also discussed.
It was said at the meeting: an amendment to the law at the end of 2022 made it possible for church administrators performing educational tasks to request the transfer of ownership of real estate related to the performance of tasks. Three churches have applied for seven properties for Hódmezővásárhely, a town with county rights. After consultations, the Diocese of Szeged-Csanád said that it is acceptable if they do not or only receive partial ownership; however, the Apostolic Congregation of the Dominican Sisters and the also affected Reformed parish insist on the right of ownership, reads the proposal.
According to the resolution proposal, the general assembly wanted the municipality to put the real estate into asset management, similar to the school district center and the vocational training center, but they would also support the purchase contract. Péter Márki-Zay emphasized at the meeting that the amendment to the law goes against the Basic Law and "the Union Charter"; moreover, it is about public property, "which is sacred and inviolable". As he said
his main goal, like other mayors, is to prevent the loss of the city's assets. He noted that the mayor of Szeged, László Botka, also settled the demands of the Benedictines by buying and selling.Zsolt Benkő (Fidesz-KDNP-Szeretem Vásárhelyet Egyesület) reminded that the ownership right would belong to the churches only as long as they maintain education and training, after which it would revert to the municipality, so "he does not understand the fears". He noted: the Old Church Reformed parish would have previously bought one of the properties, but the sale did not take place, as, in his opinion, the mayor also prevented the HUF five billion knowledge center development planned for Kossuth square. Is this considered a loss of property? - asked.
Andrea Kis (MMM-Tiszta Vásárhelyért Egyesület) did not consider the sale to be subsidized in any form, and in the end, with a voted amendment, it was removed from the resolution proposal. The representative called the amendment to the law adopted by the parliament a "pure anti-constitutional fraud" and a "massive robbery" directed against local governments. In his opinion, it is only through property management that the municipality can have some influence on the property.
The representatives present finally accepted the amended resolution - which only offers asset management, not sales - with 9 yes votes, 3 no votes, with 1 abstention.
In the debate before the agenda, Gabriella Bálint (Fidesz-KDNP-Szeretem Vásárhely Egyesület) asked the city administration about a municipal document published on social media at the beginning of the week. According to the document, in the spring of 2020, Péter Fejes (MMM-Tiszta Vásárhelyért Egyesület) hugged a woman working in the mayor's office and ran her hair; he did all this without her consent. The civil servant protested against the insult.
Emphasizing that all forms of sexual harassment are unacceptable, the representative stated that it must be clarified whether the document with the signature of the former clerk and the seal of the office is genuine, and if so, the circumstances of the case must be clarified. Péter Márki-Zay referred the case to "the classed as malicious political attacks," he said, there was no question that sexual harassment had taken place, but if anyone thinks that it has, they should report it immediately.
Zsolt Angyal announced that he had ordered an investigation, and they will try to find the document in the office. Gabriella Bálint's report will be treated as a public interest request and the representative will be informed in writing.
Péter Fejes said that, as a representative, he asked the civil servant to draft an official letter, but he was not satisfied with the finished draft, so he visited the woman in his office. He explained that he had closed the door on them because he did not want to hold the woman responsible in front of others. According to his words, he sat next to the woman, and after they finished the work, he "huged her in a fatherly way." He also said about the case that "he has a bad habit of touching whoever he talks to".
Source: MTI
(Caption image: YouTube screenshot)