Government Humiliated in First Round of Presidential Election

The government of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány (left) was dealt a savage, mortifying and potentially ruinous blow yesterday when its nominee for state president received the votes of less than half of the country's Parliamentarians. While the stage had long been set for a showdown between the governing Socialists (MSZP) and the main opposition party (Fidesz) over who would succeed Ferenc Mádl in the largely ceremonial post of state president, in recent weeks the MSZP had run up against their Liberal (SZDSZ) coalition partners, who refused to acquiesce in the MSZP's nomination of leading Socialist party figure Katalin Szili (right) for the job. When MSZP MPs assembled yesterday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. to vote, they found themselves almost totally alone in the chamber, as both the hated opposition and the barely-tolerated coalition partners boycotted the vote. This in turn lead to the pitiable first-round showing for Szili, who needed a two-thirds majority of the country's 386 MPs in order to become the region's first female head of state, as opposed to just another clueless post-commie party hackette with a fetching no-more-sex hairdo and a habit of being in the right place at the right time.

Completing the humiliation for the Socialists was Gyurcsány's last-minute plea to the SZDSZ not to boycott the afternoon vote, an entreaty that was answered with a big fat nem by Liberal leader Gábor Kuncze. "[We] wished good luck to the MSZP in trying to elect Katalin Szili," Kuncze said earlier, explaining his party's refusal to play ball. "We wanted to say that in the future, SZDSZ is not responsible for what happens if the known candidates remain."

The SZDSZ's unwillingness to back Szili means it is likely that Hungary's next president will be László Sólyom (right), a constitutional court judge backed by Fidesz, who by most accounts is a pretty inoffensive haver, all things considered. Indeed, throughout the recent days of Socialist hysterics, Fidesz operatives have confidently predicted that, if the country's MPs do as they say they are going to do, Sólyom's election is already a done deal. While normally this would not be cause for great assurance - Hungarian MPs are generally more likely to do exactly the opposite of what they have solemnly pledged to do - in this case it appears to be the real deal.

Meanwhile, the failure of the Liberals to back Szili will inevitably lead to an epic catfight between the two parties, whose coalition is currently as popular among Hungarian voters as a canker sore, as well as increased worries that the government will simply start handing out money like gumdrops in its doomed quest to cling to power in next springs elections, which, given the events of this week, could come as early as next week.

Stay tuned for more updates as they occur.