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Gyurcsany Keeps Low Numbers in Hungary
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Few Hungarians are satisfied with their prime minister, according to a poll by Gallup Hungary. Only 22 per cent of respondents rate Ferenc Gyurcsany's performance as good or very good, up two points in a month.
In August 2004, Socialist prime minister Peter Medgyessy tendered his resignation after a cabinet dispute. The Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) chose businessman and sports minister Gyurcsany as the new head of government.
In April 2006, Hungarian voters renewed their National Assembly. The MSZP and the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ) won 210 of the legislative branch's 386 seats, securing a full term for Gyurcsany. In June, Gyurcsany introduced a fiscal "austerity package" of state subsidy reductions and tax increases, aimed at lowering the country's fiscal deficit.
In September, Gyurcsany was criticized after Hungary's state radio aired portions of an audiotape—which had been recorded in May—in which he told members of the MSZP that his administration "lied throughout the past one and a half or two years" about the state of the country's economy in order to win re-election. The prime minister's words sparked a two-week riot that threatened to end his government.
Last month, Gyurcsany discussed energy concerns in Russia, saying, "We are not facing a situation where we would have to choose between two options. Russia does not ask us to turn our back on the West in exchange for the (energy) project. I do not believe it is a true picture. I would not support processes aimed at portraying Russia as an enemy."
Polling Data
How would you rate the performance of prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany?
Mar. 2007 | Feb. 2007 | Dec. 2006 | |
Good / Very Good | 22% | 20% | 22% |
Bad / Very Bad | 66% | 67% | 63% |
Source: Gallup Hungary
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,016 Hungarian voters, conducted from Mar. 9 to Mar. 13, 2007. Margin of error is 3.2 per cent.