Hungary’s parliamentary budget and finance committee met on Tuesday to discuss opposition charges over the government’s handling of financial data in 2006, prior to the general elections.
Ferenc Gyurcsany, the incumbent prime minister at the time, was invited to attend the meeting, but he declined. In a letter addressed to the head of the committee, Mihaly Varga of the opposition Fidesz party, Gyurcsany said that he had “neither the time nor the will to attend.”
“I will not help Fidesz’s campaign,” Gyurcsany said.
Janos Veres, Finance Minister in 2006, had also been invited to the meeting, but declined to attend, citing a previous engagement.
Fidesz on January 27 filed a suit against Gyurcsany and Veres for concealing data on the state of the economy in 2006. Head of Fidesz’s legal office Istvan Balsai said that a Budapest court had ruled in the case, stating that data protection laws have been broken and ordered the Central Statistical Office (KSH) to publish relevant data retrospectively.
Tuesday’s parliamentary committee heard representatives of the Finance Ministry and KSH in the case.
Official at the Finance Ministry Tamas Katona said that Eurostat had not found discrepancies with the economic data Hungary had provided in a country report put together by the Finance Ministry, the KSH and the National Bank of Hungary.
Deputy president of KSH Eszter Bago said that within the country report, KSH was responsible for preparing data on the budget deficit, the central bank on state debt and the ministry on economic projections.
Laszlo Keller of the governing Socialists asked to see the lawsuit’s documents and said that the ruling had been misinterpreted. He said the court ruled that the timing of the disclosure of data was inadequate, but it did not find officials guilty of doctoring economic figures.
A scandal broke out in the autumn of 2006, when a tape was leaked with a recording of Gyurcsany telling his party members that the government had been lying about the state of the economy before the elections.
Fidesz should also go after GVH for not having instigated an investigation 4 years ago as this is obviously an aspect of misleading advertising. Seems it’s okay to go after Tescos but not MSzP.
Why did it take them so long ?
@wolfi: “Why did it take them so long ?” Because they are all playing the well-worn ‘statute of limitations’ (elévülés) game and pretending that they give a ****. This is also one of the reasons Jobbik and Fidesz’s plans to ‘hold everyone to account’ is ridiculous. Too many skeletons and too many people involved. Even Sólyom said as much in a speech back in December in Seoul: http://www.keh.hu/speeches20091201_yonsei_university_seoul.html
Hungary needs a new constitution, new criminal code and new judges to take care of criminals such as Gyurcsany and Veres. Fidesz promised that these criminals will have to pay for their crimes. We will soon see. It will be hard to improve the situation as long as these criminals are free to enjoy the fruits of their criminal activities.
The Communists recently appointed something like 500-600 of their cronies to high paying positions for as long as six years. These people who took these jobs and those who appointed them are engaging in organized crime. They should be treated as criminals.
This pile of feces calling himself Mark thinks he can dictate “Hungary needs a new constitution” – yes from thousands of miles away he knows what’s going on here in Hungary …
Let’s just go on with these interesting discussions ignoring him and the other jobos!
A German does not use filth the Jew wolfie does. One just ignores the filth that so naturally pours from his ilk because it is expected of them but it is unnatural when one tries to spew his filth pretending to be German. Germans are arrogant for sure but this wolfie is filth.
@murkybrain – just f**k off! (I’m just repeating what I’ve been told by your jobo nazi friends here, nothing original) …
Anyone that doesn’t like you must be a Jew ?
That makes Jews a majority on this planet …
Germans are arrogant for sure but this wolfie is filth.
@Murkybrain:
Look here what the British press has to say about your beloved Mrs Morvai:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/15/krisztina-morvai-london-conference-ban
O, I’m sorry, of course this comes from the Ultra Liberal Media, not from the BNP which probably is your only British source …
Litigation is in the air . In fact it is everywhere.
Enough lawsuits to keep ügyvéd and biroság in business
for some time to come.
Going after Gyurcsany Ferenc now is a waste of money
and time.
Orban Viktor has to dedicate all his efforts to
enticing new investment that will
create jobs for the people.
How on earth anyone is going to tackle the
corruption issues let alone deal with reform
and restructuring tax, and an overhaul
of the justice system I don’t know!
That black hole seems to be getting deeper.
Gyurcsany and Veres too chicken to face the music.
Gyurcsany and Veres too chicken to face the music.
Mark at February 4, 2010 4:54 PM
—
Or they are using Vona’s argument:
“I will not help MDF’s campaign”
Why he will not meet Bokros in a debate