Steven N.Opposition party Momentum called for a demonstration at the Sándor Palace on Monday evening to protest changes to the KATA simplified tax law, after President Katalin Novák signed the bill that was rushed through Parliament last week into law that afternoon.
Novák claimed that she had signed the law, which has caused days of protests in Budapest, because “I did not find a reason to send it to the Constitutional Court. The intention of the legislature and purpose of the change can hardly be disputed.”
However, the party claims that police blocked their entry to the Sándor Palace, the office of the President of Hungary.
The protests on Monday began in the morning, as demonstrators gathered at 7:00am on the Pest side of Margit Bridge. Organizers promised that “what has taken place so far was just a warm-up. Now the real resistance begins!”
By 8:00am, protestors had completed occupied the bridge, halting all traffic on it. At the same time, they “built” a wall of food delivery bags that served as a backdrop for anyone who wanted to deliver a speech on the bridge.
After 9:30, the demonstrators split into two groups, with one of them remaining on Margit Bridge, while the larger group headed towards Nyugati Square to continue the demonstration.
In the southern city of Szeged, a demonstration was held at 6:00pm on Monday to protest the changes to the KATA system. Protestors marched from Rákóczi Square to the local Fidesz office, then to the Downtown Bridge, which they occupied, shutting down vehicular traffic. [HVG, Magyar Narancs, Telex]
