Hungary

Victor

I wonder if this will go a bit Thai, after all Hungary does have that revolutionary streak.

http://home.eircom.net/content/reuters/worldnews/8958800?view=Eircomnet

Hungarians hold big rally
From:Reuters
Saturday, 23 September, 2006
By Sandor Peto

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people poured into Budapest's parliament square on Saturday in the biggest rally so far against Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany over his admission that he lied to the electorate.

More demonstrators were still arriving in the late afternoon to join at least 30,000 already in the large square in front of the huge neo-Gothic parliament building, where protests have been held for the past week.

The demonstrations have widened the bitter division between the governing left and the rightist opposition, each accusing the other of fomenting violence to win ground ahead of local elections on October 1.

Some of the protesters were from far-right groups and there was concern about possible violence as local soccer team Ferencvaros, some of whose supporters are known for hooliganism and hatred of the government, were playing a home game.

Thousands of supporters of Fidesz, the main opposition party which cancelled its own rally because of fears of violence, were among those gathering in the square, and party leaders reiterated earlier calls for Gyurcsany to quit.

Fidesz Deputy President Pal Schmitt, in a brief speech outside parliament, asked the crowd to wear white clothes and white armbands to show they reject violence, and about half the crowd were wearing some white clothing.

Fidesz leader Viktor Orban told private InfoRadio that Gyurcsany had broken the law. "We are dealing with a chronic liar, that's clear," he said, referring to Gyurcsany's remarks, on a tape leaked to media, that his party had lied "in the morning and in the evening" to win re-election in April.

Violence erupted after his remarks were aired and the protests against his admitted mendacity have swollen over the past week.

"There are more and more people coming. There will be a lot of people here tonight," said Aletta Peller, 31, who travelled from the northwestern town of Veszeprem to join the rally. "We want a real democracy... one without lies."

The turmoil in Budapest coincides with a political shakeup in Poland and the Czechs' failure to form a new government more than three months after an election, and added to investors' concern about political instability in central Europe.

POLICE ON ALERT

Police said they were on alert, intent on preventing a repeat of violence earlier in the week when demonstrators pelted officers with cobblestones, torched cars and stormed the state television building.

Budapest Mayor Gabor Demszky said more protesters were arriving in the capital from the countryside. "The situation is likely to be made worse by the (Ferencvaros) soccer match ... it can be expected that the fans will head towards Kossuth (parliament) square after the match," Demszky said.

Gyurcsany, a 45-year-old millionaire, has rejected opposition calls to quit and won his party's backing for a package of budget cuts to rein in a huge deficit, which has surged to 10.1 percent of gross domestic product after four years of overspending.

(Additional reporting by Balazs Koranyi and Andras Gergely)

philologos

nobody should lie to their people about the economy to win an election in fairness, this anger was provoked by lies

county

Jakkass wrote:

nobody should lie to their people about the economy to win an election in fairness, this anger was provoked by lies

like this does`nt happen in most countries,the problem is that the hungarian PM admitted it

Victor

Jakkass wrote:

nobody should lie to their people about the economy to win an election in fairness, this anger was provoked by lies

Shh! Don't tell Bertie.

Akrasia

county wrote:

like this does`nt happen in most countries,the problem is that the hungarian PM admitted it

nope, the problem is that the PM lied.

county

Akrasia wrote:

nope, the problem is that the PM lied.

lies or bending the truth a vast number of politicans and leaders do it,to think they dont is being a tad bit naive

Akrasia

county wrote:

lies or bending the truth a vast number of politicans and leaders do it,to think they dont is being a tad bit naive

i don't deny that governments lie routinely, they certainly do. But i still think those lies are the problem, not the fact that this guy got caught or that he admitted to it.

We should not accept lies from the people we allow to shape our lives. And just because it is a widespread practise does not make it any better.

mike65

Whats more interesting is that Hungary ws the East Europes Star Pupil back when the wall fell, everyone had them and the Czechs down for rapid development and economy success. Yet Hungary is the dunce.

Mike.

A Dub in Glasgo

county wrote:

like this does`nt happen in most countries,the problem is that the hungarian PM admitted it

Reminds me of all the guys who defraud by tax evasion... everybody does it, what is the harm?

The PM should not be lying... that is the problem, not that he admitted it!

vodalink

Does anyone know if there lies go back to when they joined the EU?

Dosent a could Economy be one of the main contributions of The EU allowing you to join?

constitutionus

vodalink wrote:

Does anyone know if there lies go back to when they joined the EU?

Doesnt a could Economy be one of the main contributions of The EU allowing you to join?

i presume your saying isnt a good economy one of the conditions to allowing membership? if so, then no. we were a basket case when we joined the EEC. the conditions are really more about the possibility of engendering a climate in which a good economy can come.

personally i like whats going on in hungary. there's a fair amount of smuggness comming from the media on this issue "oh he lied, how could they not expect that from a politician!". the real question is why the hell do we accept it from our politicians! maybe if we got out on the streets more often we wouldnt have the self serving shower we deserve in the dail. people might mock the hungarians but at least they seem to comprehend that a democracy is about the people, not a bunch of privilaged businnes types looking after their mates. i tell you one thing, this country could do alot worse than scaring the ****e out of the politicians everytime they try to screw us over. maybe then we wouldnt have to redo referendums ad nauseum till "we vote right":mad:

philologos

Akrasia wrote:

nope, the problem is that the PM lied.

it was a leaked audio tape apparently that set this whole thing off, the PM admitted to it in the tape