Gyurcsány’s party pulls out of parliament

Budapest, October 10 (MTI) – The leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) has announced it would stay away from parliament in future, but deputies would not return their mandate.

DK leader Ferenc Gyurcsány told a press conference on Monday that his party had “no other choice” in light of recent developments.

Among the latter, Gyurcsány mentioned “lies” about the outcome of the recent referendum and the “politically motivated” closure of left-leaning daily Népszabadság. He also mentioned press reports revealing the prime minister’s role in earlier harassment of civil groups.

DK’s deputies, however, will attend votes requiring a two-thirds majority, so as not to support the government with their absence, Gyurcsány said. He said that they were aware that their boycott would entail losing their remuneration, but added that deputies would participate in a “technical vote” once a year so that they can keep their mandate.

DK’s representatives would continue fulfilling all their obligations outside parliament, such as keeping contact with voters, he said.

Ruling Fidesz said in a statement that DK had “turned its back on voters”. Gyurcsány and his party “refuse to face the fact that, unlike Brussels and themselves, Hungarian people do not want migrants to be forcefully settled in Hungary”, the statement said.

Fidesz said that DK had opted to “boycott legislation aimed at encoding the will of Hungarian people in the constitution”.