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Hungary steps out Jan 3rd 2012, 15:45 by A.L.B. | BUDAPEST THE symbolism was telling. Inside Budapests Opera House, Hungarys great and good were knocking back sparkling wine at a gala event to celebrate the inauguration of the countrys new constitution, which came into effect on January 1st. Outside, on Andrssy Avenue, tens of thousands of protestors demanded its withdrawal. Brushing off the demonstrations, President Pal Schmitt hailed Hungarys new basic law as a brave new dawn. It may well be, but probably not the kind that Hungarys rulers are hoping for. As the blog Contrarian Hungarian reports, protestors are increasingly taking control of the streets. The Andrssy Avenue march was just the latest in a series of public actions against the governments growing autocratic tendencies and its relentless centralisation of power. Mondays protests were significant as well as symbolic. This was the first time that opposition partiesthe Socialists, the Democratic Coalition and the green-liberal LMPhad joined forces with street activists. Peter Konya, leader of the Hungarian Solidarity Movement, welcomed what he called the long absent co-operation between civil groups and parties of the democratic opposition. Gabor Ivanyi, a Methodist pastor, told the crowd that There is no truth where laws are passed forcefully, without consultations, where people live in fear and where people are not equal. Mr Ivanyi is one of 13 former dissidents and liberal politicians to have signed a letter calling for the European Union to intervene and protect Hungarian democracy. | 
