The leaked lie triggered Hungary's biggest political crisis after the separation.
Seventeen years ago, on September 17, 2006, Ferenc Gyurcsány's speech at the closed meeting of the socialist faction at the government resort in Balatonőszöd was leaked. Gyurcsány
admitted that during their administration they lied to the people and hid the austerity plans before the election.
On September 18, 2006, the people took to the streets and demanded the resignation of the Prime Minister, then they literally besieged and occupied the headquarters of the public television. Demonstrations continued throughout September and October.
"I almost died that for a year and a half we had to act as if we were governing. Instead, we lied morning, night, and evening." – this is how Ferenc Gyurcsány described his government and his own performance as Prime Minister in Balatonőszöd on May 26, 2006, one month after the left won the elections again. As he put it: “Hundreds and hundreds of tricks that you obviously don't need to know about helped us survive this. No more. Is not."
Ferenc Gyurcsány admitted in a closed meeting of the MSZP faction, in a narrow circle, that they lied and deceived the people during their administration and during the election campaign: "There are not many elections. We don't have it because we fucked it up. Not a little, a lot…”
In the 25-minute recording, the former head of government talks about how the MSZP and the liberals brought Hungary close to bankruptcy during their joint government, and in the meantime they didn't deal with anything other than to prevent this from being revealed in the election campaign:
"... In Europe, no country has done such an abomination as what we have done. It can be explained. Obviously, we've been lying for the last year and a half or two. It was very clear that what we were saying was not true. We are so far beyond the country's possibilities that we could not have imagined that the joint government of the Hungarian Socialist Party and the liberals would ever do this, and meanwhile we did nothing for four years."
Some details of the obscene speech were leaked on September 17, under circumstances that are still unclear:
"There will be demonstrations, there will be. You can demonstrate in front of the Parliament. Sooner or later they get bored and go home."
Ferenc Gyurcsány's words shocked the country. Already that day, thousands of spontaneous demonstrations were organized in Budapest and several rural towns. Demonstrators across the country demanded the immediate departure of Ferenc Gyurcsány.
The next day, when it became clear that Ferenc Gyurcsány was not willing to resign, the demonstrators marched in front of MTV Szabadság tér headquarters and besieged the building. Ferenc Gyurcsány finally put an end to the demonstrations, which became commonplace, with brutal police action.
The bloodiest day of the autumn demonstrations was on the 50th anniversary of the 1956 revolution. On October 23, masked policemen pressed demonstrators on their way home from the Fidesz rally.
After that, the uniformed officers of the Gyurcsány police terror, not wearing identification marks, began an inhumane and cruel mass dispersal. Among other things, they ordered a horse attack on the people, but also used tear gas grenades and water cannons, while they fired indiscriminately at eye level with rubber bullet rifles at the peaceful crowd. Several people suffered serious, permanent injuries: some had their eyes shot out, others were abused or humiliated in police custody.
From the very first moment, Ferenc Gyurcsány called what was said a speech of truth, and it was only almost three years after the Ószöd speech, on March 21, 2009, at the MSZP board meeting, that he announced his resignation from the prime ministership. In the past 16 years, he has not once refused to apologize for the events of 2006.
Listen to the full recording of Öszöd's speech!
Featured image: Viewpoint Institute
