Rioters, police clash again on Budapest streets

BUDAPEST, Sep 20: Police and rioters clashed on the streets of Budapest early today for the second consecutive time after an anti-government protest sparked by the prime minister's admission of lying to win an election.

Police said life had returned to normal by morning after the protest in which 60 people were injured and nearly 100 people were arrested. The demonstration was calmer than the previous evening's riots when more than 150 people were hurt.

The protests were triggered by the leak of a tape on Sunday in which Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said he and his party lied repeatedly to win April's general election.

Tensions boiled over as riot police made several runs at small groups of protesters who had broken away from the main demonstration and sporadically threw cobblestones, attempted to set up barricades, broke store windows and torched a police car. Police responded with tear gas and water cannon.

Most of the crowd had left without trouble before the clash and by today morning there were no protesters on the streets.

Gyurcsany vowed yesterday he would not resign over the confession and would continue with his tough and unpopular budget reforms.

The leaked tape, however, has further damaged his credibility in the eyes many Hungarian voters who detest the Socialists, the descendents of the communists, and loath Gyurcsany, a millionaire whose integrity they have always questioned.

''It will be very difficult for him to survive, not because his own party will back out, but because morality is a factor that's gaining importance in Hungarian politics,'' said Ervin Csizmadia of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

The popularity of Gyurcsany's Socialists has slumped to 25 per cent from 40 percent in April's election and they face their next major test in local elections on October 1. And the question remains as to whether Hungarians feel comfortable with a leader who said: ''We lied in the morning, we lied in the evening''.

''We are here to make the government fall. We won't leave until he resigns,'' said Istvan Varga, a healthcare worker who was among peaceful protesters outside parliament yesterday.

Opposition leader Viktor Orban distanced himself from the violence but said the Socialists were not fit to govern.

''They'll try further and further austerity measures but sooner or later it will become clear they are incapable of governing,'' Orban said on public television late yesterday.

CHORUS OF SOCIALIST APPROVAL

Gyurcsany also has to continue to convince members of his own party that he is a credible leader.

So far he has received ringing public endorsements from top Socialists. But he is demanding the party abandon the spendthrift ways which caused Hungary's budget deficit to surge to 10.1 percent of gross domestic product this year, the fifth year of overshoots under a Socialist-led administration.

That is the highest level in the European Union and far from the 3 percent of GDP needed for the euro to which Hungary aspires, which means the country has the highest interest rates in the EU to fend off the ever-present risk of a market crisis.

Investors gave Gyurcsany, the first prime minister to enact reforms, the benefit of the doubt and the forint was stable on Tuesday, losing around 1 percent against the euro. But if tough spending reforms are abandoned, few will be in forgiving mood.

''The value of Hungarian assets is based overwhelmingly on the credibility of the reform programme and this, in turn, is to a great extent tied to Gyurcsany,'' said Juliet Sampson, economist at HSBC in London.

Reuters