HUNGARY: Fears of renewed violence during one-year anniversary of riots in Budapest

Record ID: 809347

  • Title: HUNGARY: Fears of renewed violence during one-year anniversary of riots in Budapest
  • Date: 16th September 2007
  • Summary: (EU)BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (FILE - MARCH 2007) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) RIOTERS BURNING BINS NEAR FAMOUS LANDMARK, CHAIN BRIDGE RIOTERS SHOUTING: "Communist state police" RIOT POLICE FIRING TEAR GAS GRENADES RIOT POLICE MARCHING WITH FLAMES IN THE BACKGROUND RIOT POLICE RUNNING WITH SHIELDS TEAR GAS SMOKE RISING
  • Embargoed: 1st October 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Hungary
  • Country: Hungary
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA3OWW18AG8MIOV53GC2YBV3726
  • Story Text: Hungarians opposed to the government rallied on Saturday (September 15) to demand Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany quit after he said he would press ahead with economic reforms.
    But the numbers of protesters were much smaller than last year, when hundreds of people were injured in the country's worst riots since the end of Communism, and few analysts expect a repeat of that violence.
    The anti-government groups are rallying on the first anniversary of the leaking of a tape in which Gyurcsany said he had lied "morning, noon and night" about the country's huge budget deficit to win the 2006 general election -- sparking weeks of violence last year.
    Protesters who occupied the Kossuth square outside parliament in September and October last year gathered again in another location in the centre of Budapest and a group close to the main opposition Fidesz party rallied outside the president's palace.
    Budapest Police told the media that the secret service will continuously monitor events, and will take the necessary steps against any initiatives aimed at endangering the democratic order. An unnamed police leader told the daily Magyar Hirlap that the entire police force would be deployed in the coming days.
    Laszlo Gonda, leader of the Kossuth square protesters said there could be blood shed again this year but hoped it wouldn't happen and the government would resign "as it should have done a long time ago".
    Anti-government demonstrations began earlier this month with civil groups protesting against reforms, austerity measures and the selling off of state assets.
    Analysts however say that the scale of protests this year is unlikely to be as large as last year.
    Political analyst Zoltan Kiszelly, said the level of violence would depend on how the peaceful demonstrators would be able to separate themselves from those who wanted a riot.
    Protesters say a lot will depend on how the police respond this year. A Budapest court this week sentenced a policeman to a 20-month suspended sentence in the first case of an officer being found guilty of using excessive force during the anti- government riots last October. The police officer was found guilty of breaking the fingers of a demonstrator who had already been subdued and handcuffed during the clashes.
    Other officers are still facing charges, although President Laszlo Solyom on Monday (September 10) said he feared most of the guilty officers would escape punishment due to obstruction from the police force.
    The Hungarian Civil Rights Lawyers Committee documented several cases in which protesters suffered eye and head injuries of rubber bullets and tear gas grenades fired at them.
    Co-president of the Committee, civil right lawyer and university lecturer Krisztina Morvai witnessed the clashes in October with her children.
    They escaped the violence by hiding in a building where they were trapped for four hours. She said that labelling all the protesters as far right rioters is unfair.
    Despite the controversy, poll ratings for the Socialists have inched up to 20 percent from a low of 14 percent, while Fidesz stands at 40 percent, the same as it won in last year's general election.
    A poll last week by the right of centre Szazadveg think-tank showed that among 1,000 people, 33 percent viewed Gyurcsany as the best prime minister against 34 percent for Fidesz leader Viktor Orban. The remaining asked said they preferred neither.
    People in the streets seemed as divided in their opinions as the polls.
    Despite a stagnating economy and rising prices, there have been no serious challenges against Gyurcsany from inside the party. The 46-year old millionaire now looks to start more reforms to tackle Hungary's bloated state.
    Gyurcsany is also lucky with his opponents as the right-wing Fidesz party has lost two general elections in a row, a first since the end of communism for a Hungarian opposition, and seems unable to change tactics, or leadership.
    Gyurcsany's reforms have meant unpopular measures like higher taxes, steeper prices for medicines and heating, and charges to visit the doctor. And there is more to come with changes to pensions, health insurance, education and welfare on the government agenda, although how much will be passed before campaigns for the 2010 election starts is unclear.
    Analysts say that the prime minister's position is strong enough to weather any renewed riots and protests.
    Kiszelly said "even the weakest Ferenc Gyurcsany is stronger than the strongest Peter Medgyessy" he added referring to the former Socialist prime minister who was ousted by the party in 2004.
    Gyurcsany is the first prime minister who has had the will to end Hungary's perpetually rising budget deficits, which had put the country permanently on the verge of a currency crisis.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register