Gyurcsány evaluates 2007 as successful year

Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány said in his end of year assessment on Thursday that the government’s transformations of higher education, public administration and health care have been a triumph. He remarked that, in the latter area, such intense pressure has never before been exerted on any government, nor have MPs been so exposed to threats.

Gyurcsány asserted that another success has been the strength of the coalition caucuses and added that no alternative to the government’s policy has appeared. He pledged that he will assess the work of ministers in January. Gyurcsány noted that the purchasing power of incomes in real terms is 30-31% higher than in 2001, and that of pensions is 40% higher, but described the appearance of extremists, racism and anti-Semitism as “alarming.”

Gyurcsány expects a more peaceful 2008 “in which the emphasis will be on improving competitiveness” and added that next year a position on euro adoption can be taken, noting that the Maastricht criteria could be fulfilled in 2009. In reply to a question on the construction of the government quarter, he replied that the project has been surveyed and there will be no delay to the building schedule.

Fidesz spokesman Péter Szíjjártó said in response that Gyurcsány has lied continuously throughout the year and now “he has lost his clear-sightedness and has clashed with the whole of society.”