Democratic Forum chairwoman Ibolya Dávid confirmed in Népszabadság on Wednesday that the Forum executive committee has asked former finance minister Lajos Bokros to head the party's list of MEP candidates.

"Time has shown that Bokros read the situation in 1995 better than most and his ideas offer protection in a situation when the monthly pay and pensions of ordinary people could be in jeopardy due to wrong decisions," she said.

The Forum was the most vehement critic of the Bokros austerity package in 1995 and after joining the Orbán cabinet in 1998 practically eliminated all of its practical elements, Népszabadság observes.

Former transport minister Kálmán Katona, who is not among the current Forum leadership, said Dávid "must have gone crazy" when she made this decision.

Bokros, now an IMF adviser, has in recent days been one of several of the body's officials in Kiev for talks on the Ukrainian state budget deficit.