The Hungarian Uprising Redux

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The mob called for his resignation but Gyurcsany vowed not to submit. "Radical street action will not lead to a solution," he told Hungary's TV2 news. "This is no longer an expression of democratic opinion." Gyurcsany also slammed the opposition Fidesz party for a statement published yesterday sympathizing with the disillusionment that triggered the protests.

The crisis was triggered by Gyurcsany's attempt to prepare his party faithful for a radical austerity package and tax hike that he is introducing in order to get the country's public finances back on track. In addition to admitting the lies, he told the party gathering, "You cannot quote any significant government measure we can be proud of, other than at the end we managed to bring the government back from the brink. Nothing. If we have to give account to the country about what we did for four years, then what do we say?"

Gyurcsany, a successful businessman with little experience in politics before taking over as leader of Hungary's post-communist Socialist party and becoming Prime Minister in 2004, was reelected in general elections earlier this year.

Publication of his comments triggered protests in several other Hungarian cities. They intensified in the capital Budapest on Monday after protestors, in another echo of the 1956 uprising, were refused access to national television to broadcast their views.

The protests were eagerly endorsed by Gyurcsany's political foes, including the right-wing Fidesz, or Alliance of Young Democrats, and appear to be rooted in public outrage at politicians' duplicity rather than opposition to reforms. In Eastern Europe voters still have high hopes for the change that democracy might bring. "It is a question of morals, how people are treated, and Hungary's democratic culture," Csaba said. "In this new democracy the people were reminding him just who is in power."

There is no sign that Gyurcsany will step down or that his party will remove him as leader. He says he regrets what he said but will stick with reforms. Some analysts have even praised his candor. The real difference from 1956 is that back then, the protests were crushed in two weeks. This time the Prime Minister has no choice but to listen.

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