Former Socialist Minister Peter Kiss Dies

Budapest, July 29 (MTI) – Peter Kiss, who led the Prime Minister’s Office in Socialist-led governments, has died after a long illness, at the age of 55, the Socialist Party said on Tuesday.

Kiss has been a member of Parliament since 1992 and filled various posts in several Socialist-liberal governments.

He was minister of labour in Gyula Horn’s government from 1995 to 1998 and Peter Medgyessy’s government in 2002-2003, then headed the Prime Minister’s Office until 2006. In Ferenc Gyurcsany’s second government he first headed the social welfare and labour ministry and then, in 2007, returned to the helm of the Prime Minister’s Office. In Gordon Bajnai’s government (2009-2010) he was put in charge of social policy coordination and served as the prime minister’s political deputy.

Commenting on his death, Gyurcsany said he was “a good man, an honest politician, a democrat, who excelled in peace-making and seeking compromises”.

Bajnai said in a message that “Kiss had been more than a politician, he was a statesman. He was a crucial player in helping Hungary successfully overcome one of the hardest crises of the past 30 years with the least possible pain suffered,” he said.

Andras Schiffer, co-chariman of the opposition LMP party, said Kiss had been a leftist politician “to the core” who “understood the desires of Hungary’s employees”.

Foreign Minister Tibor Navracsics sent a condoling message, as well as the co-ruling Christian Democrats (KDNP) and the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK), the E-PM, the LMP and the Hungarian Liberal Party.

Photo: MTI – Tibor Illyes

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters