Majority of Hungarians believe PM should have quit

The majority of Hungarians, 53%, believe that Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány should have resigned and 41% thought it right that he stayed in his post, according to a poll by Századvég-Forsense. Gyurcsány's speech at Balatonőszöd to the Socialist MPs in May last year uncovered lies and fraud, according to 47% of respondents.

Some 59% of respondents said Gyurcsány is largely to blame for the riots that followed the leak of his speech last September. More than half of Fidesz voters say the significance of the speech remains unchanged, while 41% of Socialist voters say the scandal has lost its relevance, and 37% of Socialist supporters said it had no significance even last autumn.

Two-thirds of respondents said the leak of the speech to the media did not help the government, and 44% said it improved the popularity of the opposition.

Some 76% of respondents said the opposition is wrong to walk out of Parliament every time Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány rises to speak. The survey was conducted September 18-27.

The above story is just one of more than two dozen published today by Hungary Around the Clock, the most comprehensive source of daily English-language news about Hungary. For a free trial of HATC, click here. Hungarian news sources include Népszabadság; Magyar Hírlap; Világgazdaság; Napi Gazdaság; Magyar Nemzet; Népszava; Kossuth Rádió news and Hungarian television's nightly news broadcast.

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