Hungary opposition rejects govt call for talks

Budspest, Sept 21: Hungary's main opposition party snubbed a government call for talks today to discuss how to deal with anti-government protests and riots which have convulsed Budapest this week.

The opposition Fidesz party has rejected any meeting with the Socialist-led government. It says the government is illegitimate after Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany's admission he lied to voters to win elections in April.

''The Prime Minister has asked the president and caucus leaders of all parliamentary parties to attend a meeting at 2 pm 1730 IST to discuss the situation,'' government spokeswoman Emese Danks told a press conference.

Fidesz said that it would not meet with Gyurcsany, but only the President Laszlo Solyom and the speaker of parliament. Its smaller ally, the Christian Democratic People's Party, also said it would not attend.

''It makes no sense talking with the government,'' Fidesz spokesman Peter Szijjarto was quoted as saying by the national news agency MTI.

''If the president of the House (Parliament) or the president of the republic invites party leaders for talks, without the government, then Fidesz will take part,'' Szijjarto said.

Hungary has seen its worst street violence since the fall of communism at the end of the 1980s after Gyurcsany was caught on tape telling his Socialist party they ''did nothing for four years'' and lied to win re-election.

Gyurcsany has said he was seeking to shock his party into backing reforms and has defied opposition calls to quit.

SATURDAY RALLY

Fidesz has called a rally for Saturday, which could draw hundreds of thousands of people, to protest against the government. The government wants the rally to be cancelled.

There are fears the rally could turn violent if far-right groups attach themselves to it.

Fidesz leader Viktor Orban told Heti Valasz weekly that the rally was to be held on Heroes Square, where he spoke in 1989 at the reburial of Imre Nagy, the prime minister executed by the Russians for leading the 1956 uprising against Soviet rule.

''This (rally) will be a watershed,'' Orban said.

Wednesday night's protests were largely peaceful, although National Ambulance spokesman Pal Gyorfi told news agency MTI that 16 people had been taken to hospital with injuries. That was far lower than the more than 200 injured on previous nights.

An estimated 15,000 gathered at the neo-Gothic parliament n yesterday peacefully waving flags, many vowing to return today to continue demands for Gyurcsany's resignation.

Gyurcsany's credibility has been severely damaged and his Socialist Party's popularity has plunged ahead of key October 1 local elections.

The forint fell sharply today after credit rating agency Fitch warned that government measures to slash the budget deficit, which at 10.1 per cent of GDP is the biggest in the European Union, were endangered by the riots.

The forint fell 0.6 per cent to 276.15 to the euro.

REUTERS

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