2ND Almost 50 injured in fresh Budapest clashes

Deutsche Presse Agentur
Published: Wednesday September 20, 2006

Budapest- Around 50 people were injured in the early hours of Wednesday as fresh clashes over the Hungarian prime minister's admission that he lied to the nation erupted between police and demonstrators. Police launched mounted charges, fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse demonstrators that had gathered on a major road close to the headquarters of the ruling Hungarian Socialist Party.

The Chief of the Budapest Police Peter Gergenyi said that 24 officers had been injured, four of them seriously, and that almost 100 rioters had been arrested.

In contrast to the heavy rioting overnight on Monday, demonstrations throughout Tuesday had been peaceful, with more than 5,000 people gathering outside the parliament building to keep up the pressure on Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany.

However, as midnight approached and the parliament group began to drift away, gangs of masked youths began roaming the streets and eventually congregated near the Blaha Lujza metro station after being repelled from the Socialist's offices and the headquarters of Hungarian Radio.

Rocks were hurled from the middle of the 500 or so demonstrators, and a police car and roadside bins were set ablaze.

A small group of around 50 hardcore protestors were responsible for most of the violence, and several masked men seemed to be orchestrating the trouble, urging the crowd forward and handing out wet cloths to people struggling to breathe amid the tear gas.

Around 20 mounted police then charged the crowd, causing panic. Many people fled through a metro underpass, only to return when police retreated.

Police endured a pelting with bottles, stones and metal bars until a water cannon and reinforcements arrived. After several hours, police succeeded in dispersing the protestors down three different streets.

Gyurcsany had promised a crackdown after rioters set fire to cars and broke into the Hungarian Television building overnight Monday in violence that resulted in injuries to more than 150 people, mostly unprepared and shocked police officers.

Police were better prepared Wednesday and had set up cordons at potential flashpoints across the capital.

Further clashes are possible before local elections on October 1, as a major public rally by the main right-wing opposition party Fidesz is planned on Saturday. A student demonstration against tuition fees is also planned for Thursday.

Most analysts believe a right-wing minority is to blame for the trouble and do not expect further escalation.

Demonstrations began Sunday, when a leaked tape of a foulmouthed speech by Gyurcsany in May at a meeting of his Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) was posted on Hungarian Radio's website.

On the tape, the prime minister admitted lying to the nation in advance of April's general elections.

"Obviously we have lied over the last ... two years. It is clear that what we were saying was not true," Gyurcsany said in the speech.

"We haven't done anything for the last four years. I can't mention a single political step we can be proud of apart from finally pulling the government out of the shit."

In the speech sprinkled with vulgarities, Gyurcsany admitted his party had "screwed up" and had hidden the scale of an austerity package, which has hit many ordinary people in their pocketbooks with tax hikes and energy price increase.

The package was introduced shortly after the Socialist-Liberal coalition in April became the first government to be re-elected since the fall of communism in 1989.

Gyurcsany has refused to step down despite growing pressure from opposition parties for him to take personal responsibility for the violence.

He claimed that his speech had been aimed at convincing his party of the necessity of tough economic reforms, and the full text of the speech revealed that he indeed urged his party to move forward.

However, the major focus fell on his uncouth language and admission of lying, though he tried to claim that he was referring to "all political lies" since the country transited to democracy.

The prime minister, a former communist youth leader turned businessman who became a millionaire during the transition, is deeply unpopular among supporters of main right-wing opposition Fidesz, a party founded by anti-Soviet dissidents.

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agenteur