Praising #Hungary's government for moving to end its rule by decree is akin to praising the schoolyard bully for refraining from beating anyone on a given day. I mean yes, well done, #OrbánViktor et al.! /1

The parsimonious explanation is not, as the usual crowd suggests, that government's motives were always so pure to begin with, but rather that an open confrontation with the EU was not the best course of action as big sums of money were about to be divided among member states. /2

Also, #Fidesz voters not thrilled about the enabling law ( https://hirklikk.hu/kozelet/pulai-gyulekeznek-a-felhok-a-kormany-feje-folott/363448/) & there was some pushback even from Fidesz mayors. That said, Hungary's record under the enabling law has hardly been a paragon /3

of good governance: casual nationalizations of businesses; decrees 135 & 136 that enabled government to grab corporate tax revenue from opposition-run municipalities; arrests of opposition activists for "fearmongering"; /4

€2bn railroad contract with China, details classified; aid to Orbán-connected Tihanyi Foundation, etc. So yes, happy to admit that I didn't expect the enabling law to be scrapped so soon but the notion that this should drastically shift our priors about what's happening /5

in Hungary, while Fidesz enjoys a 2/3 majority in parliament, is simply not compelling. /fin