Hungary: Political lies -by Mark Mardell
Hungary's Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany has come unstuck for telling the truth about lying. He wasn't tricked or trapped. It wasn't a late night ramble to his closest confidant that was caught on tape. Instead his recorded words were from an amazingly honest speech about not telling the truth, to his own party. And while he didn't intend it to get out to a wider public, he knew what he was saying and meant it to shock. He admits that his party has made a mess of Hungary's economy, and that "We lied morning, noon and night". Now the crowds outside his office are saying he's got to go.
The prime minister is not contrite. But his defence explains why people in democracy think politicians lie, and why they are often right. It's because the people who want power don't think the voters are tough enough, mature enough, to take the unvarnished truth.If this is a general dilemma in democracies, it's particularly acute in Eastern Europe. In the last couple of weeks I've been told the same thing in the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania. Many who want economic reform think their governments are too lily-livered to push through changes and not honest enough about what they would mean.
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