Hungarian PM vows to stay as protests dwindle

Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany yesterday vowed to stick to his unpopular economic policies as a week of anti-government protests, which attracted tens of thousands of people, wound down.

Demonstrations have been held every night since September 17, when a leaked tape showed Gyurcsany saying he and his Socialists had lied to win re-election in April and urging the party to change its spendthrift ways to rescue the ailing economy.

On Saturday around 40,000 people gathered outside Budapest's huge neo-Gothic Parliament in a protest that was largely peaceful, in contrast to riots earlier in the week in which hundreds were injured.

The protest continued yesterday with a few hundred people, but the biggest rallies since the end of communism appear to have failed to galvanise a critical mass in the country of 10 million people. Nr Gyurcsany said yesterday that he, not the protesters, represented the voice of the people. "Ninety-nine of 100 Budapest residents stayed at home and don't want a Budapest like this. We cannot forget about these 99 people," Mr Gyurcsany told a Socialist Party gathering.

Demonstrators, who want the government to resign, said they would continue to protest and political analysts say the next key test will be local elections on October 1, when the Socialists are expected to perform badly but not disastrously.

The popularity of the government has plunged to 25 per cent from around 40 per cent at April's election after it introduced an austerity package of tax rises and spending cuts to reduce the budget deficit from 10.1 of gross domestic product.

Protesters say the government is illegitimate as it campaigned on a platform of tax cuts and therefore deceived voters. "Our protests will not cease until the Cabinet resigns," said Tamas Molnar, a rally organiser.

The turmoil coincides with a political shake-up in Poland and in the Czech Republic where bickering in the three months since an election has failed to find a government, adding to investor concerns of political instability in central Europe.