February 6th, 2008

Two Socialist MPs to defy party whip over health care bill

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Socialist MPs József Karsai and Imre Farkas said yesterday that they will not vote in favour of the amended health care bill in Parliament next Monday. “I will vote against the bill and face the music,” declared Karsai, mayor of Battonya. He told Népszabadság that since the Prime Minister’s “lies” speech in Balatonőszöd in 2006, “we have lied even more – EU funds only exist in Gordon Bajnai’s laptop,” referring to the Local Governments and Regional Development Minister. He then said he does not plan to quit the caucus.

Farkas said that in the event of a roll-call vote, he will wait in the corridor, as he did when the bill was first approved on December 17. He will not press any voting buttons, he declared. Neither of the two received an exemption from party discipline at Monday’s caucus meeting. Caucus leader Ildikó Lendvai said the ethics committee will get involved if any party MPs vote against the caucus position.

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