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FM AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST
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INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUDAPEST 000276 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO NSC FOR ADAM STERLING 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2017 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM HU ASEC
SUBJECT: MAN OF THE HOUR: MSZP CONGRESS ELECTS PM GYURCSANY 
PARTY LEADER 
 
 
Classified By: POL/C ERIC V. GAUDIOSI; REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) 
 
¶1.  (C) PM Gyurcsany asked for and received a strong mandate 
to lead the MSZP, winning the party presidency with over 89 
percent of the vote during the February 24-25 party congress. 
 As predicted, Defense Minister Imre Szekeres and Gyurcsany 
confidante Ference Juhasz were elected as the party's 
vice-presidents, with outgoing party president and Minister 
of Education and Culture Istvan Hiller, Minister of Labor and 
Social Affairs Peter Kiss, and Istvan Ujhelyi elected to the 
party's third-tier leadership positions. 
 
TOUGH TALK FROM GYURCSANY ... 
 
¶2.  (C) The convention hewed closely to the script, with the 
only major surprise coming when Gyurcsany called for "at 
least 75 percent support" in the voting as a de facto vote of 
confidence in his leadership.  In a strong 55-minute address 
February 24, Gyurcsany called on the party to discuss its 
setbacks as well as its successes in order to "cut the 
Gordian knot" of problems confronting Hungary.  Strongly 
criticizing the forces of "anti-modernism" and "authoritarian 
nationalism," he emphasized the contrast between "the forces 
of reform and regression."  Echoing FIDESZ leader Viktor 
Orban's recent slogan of "one nation, one flag," Gyurcsany 
asked the party delegates to choose "which flag and what kind 
of nation."  Vowing "not to shy away from confrontation" but 
to "stand up for moderation and modernity," he vowed to 
govern "through the parliament and not the beer hall."  The 
choice, he concluded, is between those who believe in 
"homeland over progress" and those who will work toward 
"progress for the homeland" (not incidentally the MSZP's new 
party slogan). 
 
¶3.  (C) Other speakers followed Gyurcsany's lead, with party 
steering committee member Peter Simon decrying "a fight in 
which one party wears gloves and the other brass knuckles." 
"If the opposition insists on making this a fight between 
good and evil, between right and wrong," he noted, "let us 
have the courage to say that we are good and we are right." 
 
AND ABOUT HIS CHALLENGERS 
 
¶4.  (C) Gyurcsany's decision to throw down the gauntlet to 
the convention prompted a flurry of rumors regarding a 
challenge to his candidacy by Parliamentary Speaker Katalin 
Szili, whose weekend editorial proposed a more conciliatory 
approach.  Gyurcsany's supporters rallied to the PM, with 
MSZP parliamentary faction leader Ildiko Lendvai referring to 
the Szili piece in her observation that "of course there are 
other paths ... but not that of Hugo Chavez."  Another 
Gyurcsany loyalist questioned whether Szili - who is 
dismissed as a lightweight by some in the party - "had even 
written her own editorial."  Discussion on the margins was 
also highlighted by the events in Heves county, where the 
defection of a local FIDESZ official tipped the local 
government to the MSZP's favor, and to the death of party 
delegate of a heart attack on the floor of the convention. 
 
GUESTS OF HONOR 
 
¶5.  (C) Gyurcsany returned to a more familiar tone in his 
address on February 25.  In a shorter but denser speech, he 
pledged to renew the party through activist leadership 
committed to building consensus.  Austrian Chancellor Alfred 
Gusenbauer and Serbian President Boris Tadic made guest 
appearances, congratulating Gyurcsany on his election and his 
commitment to reform.  (Comment: These invitations were a 
deft touch, framing reform in Hungary in the European 
continuum while helping associate Gyurcsany with Tadic's 
party and its supporters in Serbia's ethnic Hungarian 
community.  End Comment.) 
 
WHEN WILL IT END? 
 
¶6.  (C) At a private dinner February 25,  a tired but upbeat 
Gyurcsany told Ambassador Foley that "no one" knew about his 
plans for the congress in advance other than his wife.  She 
expressed considerable consternation at the gamble, pressing 
him to "at least settle for two-thirds," and both were 
clearly relieved at their success.  Still feeling poorly from 
an illness that forced him to cancel his schedule late in the 
week, Gyurcsany looked back on his rousing address Saturday, 
commenting that "my passion is not just from my fever."  Both 
he and his wife noted, however, that his election will not 
resolve the government's running battle with the opposition. 
Citing demonstrations earlier in the day to commemorate the 
victims of the communist regime, recent vandalism of MSZP 
headquarters in Eger, and crowds throwing fruit and eggs at 
her husband at stops in the provinces, she concluded that "I 
 
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only wish I could be confident that it will end." 
 
GYURCSANY HOLDS SERVE 
 
¶7.  (C) Comment: The MSZP achieved its primary purpose of 
maintaining a united front behind Gyurcsany's personal 
leadership and his reformist policies.   Although his 
calculated gamble grabbed headlines, some in the party 
believe he would have received more support without what some 
perceived as a command and even faction leader Lendvai 
referred to as scare tactics.  Even with the party's broad 
endorsement, support for Gyurcsany is not necessarily deep. 
Defense Minister Szekeres confides to us that the PM is 
widely regarded in the party as "difficult," and former PM 
Horn has commented publicly that his approach of "alienating 
all elements of society" has gotten the MSZP into "a hell of 
a lot of trouble.  Although Gyurcsany has now packed the 
party leadership with members of his cabinet, he still has as 
many rivals as allies at senior levels.  Significantly, the 
party did not extend additional powers to the party 
leadership, as Gyurcsany had reportedly sought.  That leaves 
him the man of the hour, but well aware that the path ahead 
remains long and difficult.  End Comment. 
 
 
FOLEY