Hungarian demonstrators storm television building

HUNGARY: Demonstrators went on a rampage here early Tuesday, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany and briefly occupying the television building as police used teargas and water cannon to try and restore order.

The right-wing demonstrators took to Szabadsag Square where the television building is located in a bid to oust the socialist premier after Gyurcsany admitted he had lied to voters to win re-election. Police managed to empty the square leaving burnt-out cars and ripped-out rubbish bins, while more than 100 people were injured, most of them policemen, clearly outnumbered by the attackers, municipal police said.

The demonstrators wanted to get inside the broadcaster to read a petition after Hungarian public radio broadcast a closed-door discussion between Gyurcsany and his party's deputies last May in which he said candidly the government has accomplished nothing but "rubbish" and "lied all along for the past 18 months - two years."

The 44-year-old prime minister admitted Sunday that the tape-recording - from an undisclosed source - was authentic.

"We did everything to keep that secret to the end of the electoral campaign," the premier also said on the tape.

The Socialist-Liberal coalition, especially after raising salaries, easily won re-election last April. But under pressure from Brussels, the Hungarian government this summer announced very unpopular austerity measures - including higher taxes and lower subsidies - to reduce Hungary's record public deficit in order to work toward meeting the strict criteria for adopting the euro currency.

The charismatic Gyurcsany, a former communist who made a fortune in business before turning to politics, said on his Internet blog after his comments became known that he regretted his sometimes vulgar speech. He wrote that he acted out of his "passion" for the country and his desire to push through the needed economic reforms.

The conservative opposition Fidesz party of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban said it would seek to force Gyurcsany out of office as he has become a "persona non grata" in Hungarian politics.

Fidesz late Monday expressed its complete solidarity with the demonstrators, who included militant nationalists and known football hooligans.

Socialist MPs meanwhile expressed unanimous backing for the prime minister and his programme. With municipal elections set for October 1, polls show Fidesz ahead with 34 percent of voter support compared with 23 percent for the ruling coalition.

Budapest, Tuesday, AFP.