Monday Night Rioting - How They Rated

Last night's riot in Budapest may not be remembered as a seminal event in Hungarian history. But it certainly did offer the nation (and anyone around the world who might care) an opportunity to see how some of the key players in Hungarian public life operate in a high-stress environment. As luck has it, our regular contributor D.M. was on the scene for all of the action (including a long night watching the re-runs) and just filed the following assessment of how the various participants performed, on a one-to-ten scale:

The Police: 2/10
Pathetic in their "defense" of MTV headquarters. Never looked confident or organised and failed to take advantage of their superior firepower. Looked particularly woeful when 150 of them abandoned a water truck and its crew to the rioters. Clearly better training and discipline is in order. Recovered some dignity by eventually clearing the rioters out of the MTV headquarters, but by that time everybody had gone to bed. Poorly equipped, their riot gear only protects them up to their knees, which prompted rioters to throw rocks at their feet.

The TV Networks: 6/10
Learned the lesson of the August 20 fireworks fiasco and stayed with live coverage from the scene late into the night. MTV probably can't be blamed for not having any cameras out on Szabadság tér, and gave us a unique perspective from the inside the gates, looking out at the barbarians, until chickening out and going off the air at midnight as the tide swept in. RTL Klub and TV2 stayed up late, but why were they using HírTV's images? HírTV got into the thick of things, even sending a camera into MTV with the triumphant rioters. Disappointed when they went off air instead of filming the recapture of MTV. Showed where their sympathies lie by giving lots of air time to "short-haired patriotic youth."

Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány: 5/10
Credit him for sticking to his guns and for demanding that police retake MTV. On the downside, was bland and hesitant when speaking live to TV2 at 2:00 a.m.

Fidesz: 5/10
Missed an opportunity by failing to fully get behind the rioters or to condemn them outright. Their attempt to have it both ways by denouncing violence while expressing sympathy with the rioters was lame, to say the least.

Speaker Katalin Szili: 8/10
The surprise package of the night. The speaker of Parliament stayed at her post until the wee hours, and gave the best quote: "This is not the same country this morning as two days ago." Positioned herself as the only person remotely capable of stepping in should Gyurcsány quit.

The Rioters: 7/10
Behaved as rioters should. Ripped up cobblestones to throw at cops, burnt cars and park furniture, committed gratuitous acts of graffiti and other vandalism. Took the fight to the opposition, refusing to be intimidated by water cannon and tear gas. Moved in for the kill when they sensed doubt in the police ranks. As a result, achieved their objective of taking the MTV building, but not of reading their demands on the air à la 1956. Score would be higher were it not for their fashion sense; the Lonsdale gym gear, Fradi shirts and Greater Hungary flags are all a dead giveaway of their extremism.