Tens of thousands of people rallied peacefully in
Budapest on Saturday in the biggest demonstration so far against Hungarian Prime
Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany over his admission that he lied to the electorate.
Hungarians attend a protest in front
of the Parliament building in Budapest September 23, 2006. Tens of
thousands of people rallied peacefully in Budapest on Saturday in the
biggest demonstration so far against Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc
Gyurcsany over his admission that he lied to the electorate.
[Reuters] |
An estimated 30,000-40,000 demonstrators calling for Gyurcsany's resignation
had gathered by 2100 (1900 GMT) outside the huge neo-Gothic parliament, where
protests have been held for the past week.
But there was no repeat of the violence which marred earlier rallies and put
riot police on full alert.
Gyurcsany was unmoved, saying he would stay in power and pledging to
implement the painful tax rises and spending cuts which have caused his
government's popularity to plummet to 25 percent in recent polls from 40 percent
at April's election.
"I will continue on because I still have much to do here," Gyurcsany told the
German magazine Focus in an interview published on Saturday.
Demonstrators carrying Hungarian flags and singing patriotic songs said they
would stay the course in hoping they could eventually force out the 45-year-old
millionaire Socialist.
"I am sure that we will succeed, if not now then in October or November. We
must go on, that's the future and without that there is no future," said Geza,
who described himself as a Budapest entrepreneur, but did not give his surname.
The turmoil in Budapest coincides with a political shake-up in Poland and the
Czechs' failure to form a new government more than three months after an
election, raising investors' concerns about political instability in central
Europe.
The demonstrations have also 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.
But only a few, under the close watch of police, made their way to the
demonstration after the game and caused no trouble.
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. 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 was 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.
Despite the turmoil, Gyurcsany has 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.
