Forsthoffer is a vice chairman of the Tisza party and won the Veszprém County second constituency seat in the April 12 general election. She is only the second woman to hold the position since the regime changed from a communist state to a free-market democracy in 1989. She follows Katalin Szili, of the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP), who served as speaker from 2002 to 2009.
In her address after her election and swearing-in, Forsthoffer announced that her first decision as speaker would be to have the European Union flag returned to the Parliament Building for the first time in 12 years, with immediate effect. With the session being live-streamed on giant screens outside parliament, this announcement drew loud cheers, state news agency MTI reported.
Forsthoffer went on in her inaugural Speaker’s speech to emphasize that the Parliament Building must once again be home to the Hungarian nation, and not be used as what she called a center of power. “It must be a sanctuary for the nation’s will, a house of humility, service, and the resolve to act,” she declared.
In a clear swipe at her predecessor as speaker, László Kövér, she also called for a new approach to managing Parliament’s office, adding that maintaining order must not serve as an excuse to restrict the political expression of others or to foster isolation.
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