Political scientists on Wednesday criticised Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany’s crisis-tackling national summit called for Saturday, while opposition leaders said they were sceptical but would attend in order to promote dialogue.
Attending a roundtable on the current situation, political scientist Peter Tolgyessy said the national summit was an “anti-parliamentarian” solution to dealing with the effects of the global financial turmoil, where Gyurcsany “first pretended to take on the responsibility single-handedly, then tried to spread the burden at the national summit”.
Tolgyessy projected said economic growth was likely to slow to 0.5 percent next year, but a recession with negative growth of 2-3 percent was not to be ruled out either. He urged the government to lay aside reserves instead of considering to go ahead with tax cuts.
Leader of the conservative Democratic Forum Ibolya David agreed that tax cuts would have to be postponed. She said the government should concentrate on protecting savings and investments. She also said the time was not right for early elections.
Istvan Stumpf, head of conservative political think-tank Szazadveg, said Gyurcsany’s “credibility deficit” undermined any forum aimed at reaching a consensus, but early elections could “shorten his agony”.
Leader of the liberal opposition Free Democrats Gabor Fodor said there was not a crisis of legitimacy in Hungary, though he said the minority government had little room for maneouver.
Both David and Fodor said they were sceptical about the outcome of Saturday’s summit, but would attend to promote dialogue between political parties.
