At the end of April, the move by the Prosecutor General’s Office to request lifting the immunity of former prime minister Gyurcsány, made headline news. The initiative was related to the Sukoró land-swap case, initiated by some accusations made by András Schiffer of LMP.
Immediately after, Gyurcsány declared that the Prosecution acted as the extended arm of the government. János Lázár, faction leader of FIDESZ, requested a “very prudent” decision from the Parliament’s Immunity Committee. The Socialist Party lined up unanimously behind their former chairman and prime minister.
The committee, chaired by Christian democrat MP György Ruboszky decided not to decide. Instead, they requested further documents from the prosecution – and have had to wait ever since. Currently, nobody can say when the committee will be in a position to make a decision, and when the issue of lifting Gyurcsány’s immunity can be put before the plenary. The motion would require a 2/3 majority, meaning that the coalition would have no difficulty to extradite the former PM, even if socialists would vote unanimously against.
According to opposition MPs, talking to the news site Hírszerző, it is an open question what the decision of the FIDESZ group will be. According to a veteran socialist member – claiming to have information from FIDESZ MPs – the governing party has not yet decided whether it would be good for them to drag a handcuffed former PM in front of the cameras, which the media-sensitive Gyurcsány could then use to display himself as a hero. And even if, there is no decision as to when this should happen. (Socialists are in any case convinced that the judicial system is acting according to political instructions on the matter.) There are currently two scenarios on the table – the source of Hírszerző claims. FIDESZ would first await whether or not there will be a harsh debate around the fundamental legislation submitted to Parliament this autumn, and how tough the 2012 budget may turn out. If there will be a need for further austerity, they will again bring out the Gyurcsány case. If not, the case may be further prolonged.
FIDESZ politicians are conspicuously reserved about Gyurcsány – said an MP for LMP. According to him, there is no way to predict the governing party’s decision. And soon-to-start lawsuit could be dragged on indefinitely – even until the end of the government’s mandate, so that Gyurcsány would have to regularly appear in court during the 2014 election campaign. Jobbik applies a simpler logic. Questionned by Hírszerző, their MP simply said that they would not be surprised if Gyurcsány’s immunity would not be lifted in the end, because “it has been repeatedly demonstrated that in the big cases FIDESZ and the socialists always played up with each other”. However, another FIDESZ MP considered that not extraditing Gyurcsány would be a political suicide. “Our voters expect us to do this as a minimum. Without this, our whole rhetoric about doing justice would collapse, and we would only generate 5 to 10% more votes for Jobbik”.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 June 2011 22:15