Hungary's prime minister says he will resign
BUDAPEST - Hungary's prime minister stunned the country yesterday by announcing his resignation, saying he had become an "obstacle" to the reforms needed to pull Hungary out of its worst financial crisis since the end of communism nearly 20 years ago.
BUDAPEST - Hungary's prime minister stunned the country yesterday by announcing his resignation, saying he had become an "obstacle" to the reforms needed to pull Hungary out of its worst financial crisis since the end of communism nearly 20 years ago.
Ferenc Gyurcsany, of the ruling Socialists, made the unexpected announcement at his party's congress, saying he was keeping a pledge he made in January 2008 to change the leadership if the embattled party's popularity failed to recover.
He accepted that his reputation was badly damaged when state radio in 2006 broadcast a speech he made at a party meeting in which he admitted lying about the state of the economy to win elections a few months earlier. The broadcast sparked weeks of protests and riots that left hundreds injured.
"I'm being told that I myself am the obstacle to the cooperation and stable government majority needed to implement changes," Gyurcsany, 47, told party members.
In the year since his promise, he said, "support for us has not grown. On the contrary, it has diminished."
"I propose forming a new government with a new prime minister," he said.
But Gyurcsany seemed to be hedging his bets.
Just hours after saying he was ready to resign as prime minister, he was reelected chairman of the Socialist Party with more than 80 percent of the votes. The post gives him a say in choosing his possible successor, who would then need parliamentary approval.
Analysts said Gyurcsany's announcement could be a ploy to strengthen his position within the party, which is expected to do badly at June's elections for the European Parliament.
"It is not clear whether his true intention is to give up his place . . . or whether he simply wants to show that there is no alternative to him," said Orsolya Milovan of the Perspective Institute, who noted that Gyurcsany did not mention any candidate who could replace him.
Instead of holding early elections, lawmakers are likely to choose a new prime minister who will name a government to be in place until parliamentary elections in mid-2010.
Fidesz, the main center-right opposition party, said it was not willing to participate in talks to find Gyurcsany's replacement and would instead initiate the dissolution of parliament and propose holding early elections.
Hungary has been badly hit by the global financial crisis and has received a $25.1 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund and other institutions.
