Ferenc Gyurcsány

(pronounced ) (born June 4, 1961) is the Prime Minister of Hungary. He was nominated to take that position on the August 25, 2004 by his party, the Hungarian Socialist Party, after Péter Medgyessy had resigned due to a conflict with the coalition partner. Gyurcsány was elected to be Prime Minister on the September 29, 2004 with a parliamentary vote (197 yes votes, 12 no votes, and the greatest opposition party in Parliament not voting). He led the coalition to victory in the parliamentary elections in 2006, therefore his role being the Prime Minister was secured.

Early years

Gyurcsány was born in the city of Pápa, in western Hungary. He studied as a teacher and obtained his B.sc. in 1984 from Janus Pannonius University in Pécs. Then he studied economics at the same institution getting his M.sc. in 1990.

He began politics in the KISZ, the Organisation of Young Communists in 1984. Between 1984 and 1988 he was the vice president of the organisation's committee in Pécs. Then between 1988 and 1989 he was the president of the universities' and college's central KISZ committee. After the political change in 1989 he became vice-president of the organisation's successor, the DEMISZ.

From 1990 he stopped in this political career and instead worked in some companies, such as CREDITUM Pénzügyi Tanácsadó Ltd., EUROCORP International Finance Rt. Hungary and ALTUS Ltd.http://www.hungria.org.br/CV_Gyurcsany.htm. Being an entrepreneur he became the 50th richest person in Hungaryhttp://www.origo.hu/uzletinegyed/hirek/2002111541tol.html.

The return to politics

He returned to politics in 2002 as the head strategic advisor of Péter Medgyessy, the previous PM. From May 2003 until September 2004 he was a Minister responsible for sports, youth and children. Under his office, Hungary has suffered a high-profiled athletic doping scandal during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

He became the president of the MSZP in Győr-Moson-Sopron county in January 2004 which position he held until September 2004. In the summer of that same year it seemed that there were larger problems in his relationship with then current PM Péter Medgyessy, so he resigned as minister. In a week the coalition problems led to the resignation of Medgyessy, and the MSZP voted Gyurcsány to become Prime Minister of Hungary as he was acceptable for the coalition partner, SZDSZ.

He became Prime Minister in 2006, with his socialist party winning a second term in office, taking 210 of the available 386 parliamentary seats (including the seats of its coalition party SZDSZ), becoming the first government to be re-elected since 1990.

Personal life

He has four children (from two marriages): Péter (1988), Bálint (1990) from his first marriage, and Anna (1996) and Tamás (1997) from his current one. He is married to Klára Dobrev, who is a lawyer and teaches at the University of Budapest (ELTE).

Gyurcsány has been tight-lipped on his religious affiliation, leading many to assume that he is an Atheist. Nevertheless, in an interview aired on TV2 during the 2006 parliamentary election campaign, Gyurcsány noted that as a teenager he attended Catholic Sunday school in preparation for Confirmation and that he even considered becoming a priest. In the end, however, he decided to join the Alliance of Communist Youth (KISZ) instead.

Opposition arguments

Mr. Gyurcsány has a pronounced flippant speech-style, which – as opponents think – alienates common people.
The opposition decried him for not disclosing information about the state of the Hungarian economy before the 2006 elections, as mandated by the Hungarian constitutionThe constitution of Hungary 61. § (1), reasoning that basic economic data should be the basis of voter judgement. Gyurcsány admitted that he didn't disclose 'the details of the truth', but said that he has not lied.http://www.radio.hu/index.php?cikk_id=187221
The origin of his wealth is regularly questioned by the political right. His tax evasion practices were against the law, but the term of limitation to prosecute has lapsed.http://www.hirtv.hu/?tPath=/belfold/&article_hid=90715
A person named "Gyurcsányi" has been mentioned by Attila Kulcsár, the main defendant in the high-profiled "K&H Equities" money laundering scandal in Hungary.http://www.pestiside.hu/archives/nerves_shredded_over_scandal_evidence_shredding000808.php The prime minister denies he had any connections with this case.
On February 2, 2005 at the birthday party of the Hungarian Socialist Party, for the sake of a joke, he referred to the players of the Saudi national football team as terrorists. Later he apologized, but the kingdom ordered its ambassador home from Hungary for a time.http://www.magyarhirlap.hu/Archivum_cikk.php?cikk=92593&archiv=1&next=0
On December 9, 2005 he lost a libel action against a newspaper (Magyar Nemzet). Note, however, that on April 27, 2005 Magyar Nemzet journalist László Török was given a year of probation for slandering then-Sports Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány and his company in 2003, following a decision by the Pest Central District Court.http://www.pestiside.hu/archives/in_todays_papers_well_we_can_always_use_a_warm_blanket000771.php
The Prime Minister danced as Hugh Grant in Love Actually ^*. The official story was, that the friends of the Spokesperson of the Government asked Gyurcsány to dance, as they re-made most parts of the film, for spokeperson, András Batiz's wedding. The opposition usually says it was just part of the campaign, because the dancing was popular among young adults.

Sources

External links

The Official Website of the Prime Minister of Hungary (only few facts in English yet)
His blog
Hungarian PM appears on Internet as Hugh Grant

Notes

1961 births | Living people | Prime Ministers of Hungary