Hungarian opposition vows biggest protest yet

BUDAPEST, Sep 23 (Reuters) Opposition groups vowed tens of thousands of people would gather in Budapest today in the biggest protest yet against Hungary's Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany over his admission that he lied to the electorate.

About 10,000 people peacefully ended a demonstration in front of the huge, neo-Gothic parliament building in the early hours, but leaders said that number could swell to 200,000 later in the day.

The main opposition Fidesz party shelved its plans for a mass rally, which the Socialist-led government warned could rekindle violence in which more than 200 people were injured this week.

However, some of its hundreds of thousands of supporters were expected to travel from their rural heartlands to the capital and its leaders continued to call for Gyurcsany's head.

''Ferenc Gyurcsany has removed himself from (the list of) acceptable politicians,'' Lajos Kosa, mayor of the Fidesz stronghold city of Debrecen, told Hungarian television.

''We have to decide whether our democracy is about electing a dictator for four years or a prime minister who is not above the law. Ferenc Gyurcsany has placed himself above the law.'' Far-right group Jobbik told supporters to add their numbers to protests attended by between 10,000 and 15,000 people each night this week outside the parliament building.

POLICE ON ALERT ''It does not need to be organised, people will come by themselves,'' Laszlo Toroczkai, president of the 64 Counties Youth Movement, one of the radical protest groups, told Reuters.

Police remained on alert, intent on preventing a repeat of riots in which demonstrators pelted officers with cobblestones and stormed the state television building on Tuesday.

Mr Gyurcsany was caught on a tape leaked to Hungarian media this week telling his party it had lied ''in the morning and in the evening'' to win re-election in April.

The 45-year-old millionaire has rejected opposition calls for him to quit and won backing from his party for a package of budget cuts to rein in the country's huge deficit, which has surged to 10.1 per cent of gross domestic product after four years of overspending.

While he appeared to enjoy the full support of his Socialist Party and its coalition partner, the Alliance of Free Democrats, cracks have appeared in the centre-right opposition.

Fidesz insiders said there was a long discussion about their decision to cancel their own rally, saying it was the lesser of two evils, given that rioters could join a huge crowd.

However, they denied a report by news Web site www.hirszerzo.hu which said Fidesz leader Viktor Orban, trying to revive the party after two consecutive election defeats, might be under threat because he had wanted the rally to go ahead.

REUTERS SHB VV1441