Hungarian opposition party draws massive peaceful crowd (Roundup)

By Michael Logan Mar 15, 2007, 18:27 GMT

Budapest - A massive crowd bolstered an opposition rally in Budapest on Thursday as Hungary commemorated the 1848 revolt against Habsburg rule, but the anti-government violence predicted in many quarters failed to materialize.

Around 100,000 flag-waving supporters of the main right-of-centre opposition party Fidesz stretched back hundreds of metres along a major road in downtown Budapest as party leader Viktor Orban both commemorated the revolt and attacked the government.

'Everyone can see that the authorities are marching toward their end,' he told the cheering crowd.

Orban and his party have been attempting to force the government out since last September, after a tape on which Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany admitted lying about the state of the economy prior to April's general elections was leaked to the press.

Violence erupted immediately following the leak of the tape, and hundreds of right-wing extremists and football hooligans burned cars and pummelled police with rocks and bottles on the first night as they stormed the headquarters of state-owned Hungarian television.

Clashes stopped for a few days, but reignited on October 23 - the 50th anniversary of the 1956 uprising against communist rule - when police fired teargas and rubber bullets at thousands of protestors.

Many had warned that Thursday's rally and other protests could once again end in violence, but these fears proved unfounded.

While police - who had been accused of beating peaceful demonstrators at the last rally - were alert for trouble, they kept a low profile during the day.

Hungarians have been holding their breath for months as the fear levels were cranked up in advance of the event.

Officials earlier warned that right-wing extremists were planning to attack government targets on the day, with some even warning of assassination attempts.

The atmosphere worsened when somebody opened fire on the police headquarters with an automatic weapon.

Police also uncovered apparent weapon stashes in recent weeks, with one man arrested on Wednesday in possession of the materials for 80 Molotov cocktails.

Fidesz, however, has dismissed the reports as scaremongering, and Orban once again accused the government of attempting to stop people from gathering on the streets.

'They did not succeed in intimidating us; despite the authorities' provocation, we have gathered again today,' he told his supporters.

Fidesz has failed in several attempts to oust the premier, and analysts believe that Gyurcsany is safe in his position despite low approval ratings.

The day did not pass completely without incident, however, and earlier on thousands of right-wing demonstrators disrupted several of the official commemorative events.

Around two thousand demonstrators pelted Budapest Mayor Gabor Demszky with eggs and bottles as he spoke at the banks of the River Danube in Budapest by a statue of Sandor Petoffi, the poet credited with inspiring Hungarians to revolt against the Austrians.

Security staff shielded the mayor, a member of The Alliance of Free Democrats - the junior coalition partner of Gyurcsany's Hungarian Socialist Party - with umbrellas as the missiles flew and protestors drowned out his speech with boos and whistles.

The same crowd, many of them carrying an ancient flag now associated with a pro-Nazi party in charge at the end of the Second World War, had earlier disrupted ceremonies outside the national museum and parliament as they called for Gyurcsany's head.

Further rallies organized by far-right parties Jobbik and the Hungarian Justice and Life Party passed off without incident.

However, some chance of violence remained for the evening, with further demonstrations planned, including one organized by a group of protestors that had camped outside of parliament for over a month last year.