 The LMP charged that the government was "dismantling constitutional values", while former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, head of the small Democratic Coalition, also drew attention to the diminution in the court's prerogatives.A protest in Budapest held in the days before parliamentary approval was given drew several thousands, while on the day of the vote, a few hundred turned out.José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, together raised concerns about the amendment's impact on the rule of law, while prominent EU politicians, including Verhofstadt and Martin Schulz, expressed more forceful criticism.