Hungary government firm after riots

BUDAPEST - Hungary's government pledged overnight to stand by embattled Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany who blamed the opposition for riots that marred the 50th anniversary of the country's anti-Soviet uprising.

Gyurcsany and his coalition of Socialists and Free Democrats have come under attack since the leak last month of a tape in which the prime minister admitted lying about the parlous state of the economy to win a national election in April.

Anti-government protesters have staged daily demonstrations outside parliament demanding Gyurcsany step down amid the worst violence in Hungary since the fall of communism.

"Radical words have turned into radical actions. The leader of the opposition provided the ideology for the riots," Gyurcsany told parliament after receiving support from the coalition for budget deficit cuts.

"They played with fire, but they burnt the nation," he said, adding that the main centre-right opposition party Fidesz had not come to terms with losing the April election.

On Monday, police used rubber bullets, water cannon and teargas to disperse mostly far-right rioters and Fidesz accused police of deliberately driving the protesters into their peaceful rally.

Around 167 people were injured in the violence including one Fidesz MP and 17 policemen, but Budapest was calm on Tuesday local time. Police said they had made 131 arrests.

Gyurcsany, who campaigned promising tax cuts, reversed tack when he won re-election and announced big tax rises and spending cuts to try to plug the budget deficit which at 10.1 per cent of gross domestic product is the biggest in the European Union.

Most foreign investors view Gyurcsany as the first Hungarian prime minister to make an effort to cut the deficit, although they are concerned his reforms may be weakened.

"The coalition firmly stands by the programme and by the prime minister who wants to carry out this programme in a determined way," Free Democrat leader Gabor Kuncze said.

Rallies against Gyurcsany and his fiscal policy are expected to keep the government under pressure in the coming weeks.

The country's main farmers group, Magosz, an ally of Fidesz, said on Tuesday it would hold demonstrations in Budapest with 1000 agricultural vehicles between November 2 and 20, the national news agency MTI said.

Fidesz said it wanted a referendum on the government's reform policies.

It said the use by the government of a confidence vote earlier this month to win support for its policies was a fraud. But the Gyurcsany government enjoys the backing of 210 MPs belonging to the ruling coalition in the 386-seat parliament.

"A dominant majority of voters, two-thirds, believe that things are going in the wrong direction, that the prime minister is doing a bad job," said Fidesz parliamentary group leader Tibor Navracics, citing a Gallup poll from last week.

"Constitutional tools are useless, including parliament, if the government is unwilling to talk about our proposals," he added.

Hungary was bitterly divided even before the leaking of the Gyurcsany tape and many on the right question whether celebrations marking the 1956 anniversary should be led by the Socialists, heirs of the communists whose rule was cemented for 33 more years after Soviet troops put down the uprising.

- REUTERS