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Hungary's prime minister in trouble over leaked recording
AP ^ | September 18, 2006

Posted on 09/18/2006 1:19:15 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe

A leaked recording that caught Hungary's prime minister admitting the government had lied about the economy — keeping it afloat through "tricks" and relying on "divine providence" — has prompted protests outside parliament and calls for his resignation.

The tape was made at a closed-door meeting in late May, weeks after Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany's government became the first in post-communist Hungary to win re-election.

It seemed to confirm the worst accusations leveled at him by the center-right opposition during the campaign — that Hungary's state budget was on the verge of collapse and that Gyurcsany and his ministers were concealing the truth in an effort to secure victory.

Adding spice to the scandal, Gyurcsany's comments were full of crude remarks and called into doubt the abilities of some of Hungary's most respected economic experts.

"We screwed up. Not a little, a lot," Gyurcsany was heard saying. "No European country has done something as boneheaded as we have."

"I almost died when for a year and a half we had to pretend we were governing. Instead, we lied morning, evening and night," he told his fellow Socialists.

The 45-year-old Gyurcsany, his party's golden boy since he was elected prime minister in late 2002, said the economy had been kept afloat only through "divine providence, the abundance of cash in the world economy and hundreds of tricks." ...

Opposition parties demanded his resignation, while President Laszlo Solyom chastised the prime minister for "knowingly" jeopardizing people's faith in democracy and asked Gyurcsany to publicly recognize his error.

Hundreds of protesters were outside parliament, also calling for his dismissal.

A timely trip to Russia on Monday to meet with President Vladimir Putin allowed Gyurcsany to escape the turmoil, at least temporarily.

(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: gyurcsany

1 posted on 09/18/2006 1:19:17 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
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To: Tailgunner Joe

Never trust a socialist.


2 posted on 09/18/2006 1:21:28 PM PDT by nuconvert ([there's a lot of bad people in the pistachio business])
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To: Tailgunner Joe

Communists lie? I'm shocked, just shocked.


3 posted on 09/18/2006 1:23:28 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: nuconvert

I did. I voted for one in the 1976 Presdidential election, back when I was a rebellious moron.

By 1980 I had learned a valuable lesson.


4 posted on 09/18/2006 1:23:45 PM PDT by Dog Gone
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To: Tailgunner Joe
"I almost died when for a year and a half we had to pretend we were governing. Instead, we lied morning, evening and night,"

Only one thumb up from XXX-42. It would have gotten two thumbs up if Gyurcsany had a chubby intern involved.

5 posted on 09/18/2006 1:57:56 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (Dems - Your conduct is an invitation to the enemy, yet few of you have heart enough to join them.)
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To: Tailgunner Joe

Did they hire Baghdad Bob?


6 posted on 09/18/2006 1:58:46 PM PDT by dfwgator
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