Lawmakers set to have busy season in spring.

(From Hungarian News Agency (MTI))

Budapest, January 1 (MTI) - After the Christmas and New Year break, plus six more session-free weeks, Hungarian parliament will resume session on February 14 for what could be the busiest season for the country's lawmakers since the elections in 2002.

The government foresees to put 51 bills to the House in the first half of the year, including around a dozen that aim to bring domestic rules in line with EU laws, a few that need a two-thirds majority to be passed and some that had been hotly disputed before they were even framed into a bill, the daily Magyar Hirlap has said. In the whole of last year, Parliament passed 66 new laws, seven fewer than in 2003.

The start of the lawmaking season is likely to coincide with a state-of-the-nation address by Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany. The Socialist prime minister will announce measures to increase social justice, the daily said. In his address to the nation last year, then Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy surprised the country with a bunch of brave proposals -- such as replacing a parliamentary vote on the country's next president with a popular vote -- which came to nothing.

At around the same time as Gyurcsany's keynote address, the charismatic leader of the opposition Fidesz party, Viktor Orban, is also expected to take stock of the past year's political and social developments in a major speech. This and Gyurcsany's address are likely to give material for thought for political analysts who can then compare the performance of Hungary's two key political figures, while pollsters will measure how the speeches went down with the general public.

Among many other laws, Parliament is scheduled to approve subsidies for Budapest's fourth metro line and pass a law on district ...