Conservative party Fidesz on Sunday rejected a call by the Socialist party's prime-minister candidate to take part in a broadcast debate on their respective campaign programmes.
Attila Mesterhazy had asked Viktor Orban, the Fidesz leader, and the party's top policymakers to take part in a debate on the contents of their programmes.
Fidesz spokesman Peter Szijjarto accused the Socialists of misleading the electorate about the state of the public finances and insisted that the governing party had brought shame on Hungary by manipulating economic data.
"The unproductive debate with you has past its sell-by date," said Szijjarto, explaining the party's refusal to take part in a debate.
Fidesz is riding high in the polls and is expected to win the two rounds of the general elections in April.
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Other than they don't seem to have a program, what has FIDEsZ got to fear from an open discussion of their governance plan?
Exactly.