British prime minister Boris Johnson's parliament suspension has chilling similarities to how illiberal leaders in central Europe dismantled democratic checks.
Johnson announced the upcoming shutdown on Wednesday (28 August) to stop MPs from blocking a no-deal Brexit on 31 October and to force the opposition to make its move.
The suspension is perfectly legal and almost routine in other cases.
The British parliament can be "prorogued" to restart the political calendar.
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Eszter Zalan is a Hungarian journalist who worked for Brussels-based news portal EUobserver specialising in European politics, focusing on populism and Brexit.