Hungary crisis deepens as Prime Minister quits
Moving to end a political crisis with its government coalition partner, Hungary’s Socialist Party has announced that Prime Minister Medgyessy is no longer head of the government and that it plans to nominate his replacement next week.
The Socialists said yesterday that they had accepted Medgyessy’s offer to resign, apparently seizing upon his threat earlier in the day to step down unless the junior coalition partners – the Free Democrats – reaffirmed their confidence in him.
Medgyessy’s departure would mark the first time a sitting Hungarian prime minister left office before the end of his term since the country returned to democracy in 1990.
His downfall came after Cabinet changes he made on Wednesday backfired and the Socialists’ coalition partner, the Alliance of Free Democrats, refused to accept the dismissal of one of its ministers.
Hungary has been plagued by bitter disagreements since becoming an EU member in May over the government’s priorities as it struggles with one of Europe’s largest budget deficits.
The announcement capped weeks of political crisis, sparked by the ruling Socialist Party’s poor showing in June’s EU parliamentary elections and internal disputes between the two-party coalition.
Medgyessy’s replacement was not immediately named, but Socialist Party President Laszlo Kovacs said the party had agreed on the new nominee.
The Alliance of Free Democrats, the junior partner in a coalition with the Socialists, turned on Medgyessy after he dismissed Economics Minister Istvan Csillag on Wednesday.
Csillag was nominated by the Free Democrats, who hold four ministerial positions in the government and 20 seats in the 386-seat parliament. Despite its relatively small parliamentary representation, the party is an essential part of the coalition, which holds a thin 10-seat majority over the centre-right opposition.
Medgyessy blamed the “personal ambitions” among the Free Democrats for the crisis. Other coalition members have countered that the troubles were caused by his lack of leadership and failure to provide a clear direction for government policies.
Dissatisfaction with Medgyessy within the government parties increased after the Socialists lost to the main centre-right opposition party, Fidesz, in June’s elections for the European parliament.
Medgyessy, 62, a former deputy prime minister during the communist regime and later a successful banker, was the Socialists’ surprise candidate in the 2002 elections.
Not a member of the Socialist Party, Medgyessy used his poor oratory skills to his advantage during the bitter campaign which pitted him against then-Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
He won over voters with his simple language and vows to ”fill up the trenches” by uniting the conservative and socialist halves of the country.
Peter Kiss, currently the minister directing the Prime Minister’s Office, was being touted as the Socialists’ likely nominee, in the local media. It was not immediately possible to confirm the reports.
Kovacs said the coalition planned to pass a “constructive no-confidence” vote in parliament on September 6.
In such a motion, parliamentary deputies – representing at least one-fifth of the total – initiate a vote of no-confidence against the sitting prime minister by designating his replacement. A simple majority is needed for the motion to succeed.
