HUNGARY: Hungary's eccentric leader refuses to be cowed by the opposition, writes Daniel McLaughlin in Budapest
Ferenc Gyurcsany is renowned for his media savvy, but he is also a man who loves a scrap.
While much of Hungary fumes over an expletive-riddled tape on which he condemns the lies of his own government, some are wondering whether the communist youth member-turned tycoon could really have handled his public relations so badly.
How the tape leaked out is still a mystery, but some analysts believe the multimillionaire may have sanctioned its release to show his nation that he is committed - in private and well as in public - to cleaning up politics and overhauling the economy.
"In some sense their hand has unarguably been strengthened," said Tomos Packer, a senior economist with London-based Global Insight. "He's been strengthened because he's come clean about the situation."
Mr Gyurcsany, using the blog on which a full transcript of his controversial words appeared with extraordinary speed after it was first played on state television, insisted he was proud of his "passionate speech".
"The lies are the sins of the whole Hungarian political elite," he said.
"The real issue in Hungarian politics today is not who lied and when, but who is able to put an end to this, who can face up to the lies and half-truths of the past 16 years."
On national television Mr Gyurcsany (44) said his explosive speech should be seen as a wake-up call for a country that now has to take tough decisions on raising taxes and cutting public spending, to slash the biggest budget deficit in the European Union.
"For years . . . we made people believe that they have nothing to do, that we will give them happiness as a gift," he said.
"We have to stop the deluge of lies which have covered the country for many years."
The violent reaction to the tape must have surprised Mr Gyurcsany, even if he did authorise its release, but he is unlikely to be cowed by this challenge to his rule.
Having risen through the ranks of the communist youth organisation, he quickly adapted to the capitalist Hungary of the 1990s, becoming one of the country's richest men during an era of privatisation in which many people missed out.
It was to the tycoon that the Socialists turned when they were losing ground to the right-wing Fidesz opposition in 2004, and he quickly reinvigorated the party with his personal energy and determination to take the fight to its foes.
His confrontational style in taking on Fidesz leader Viktor Orban - who until Mr Gyurcsany's arrival was the star of Hungary's political firmament - was encapsulated during a televised debate when he summed up his rival's policies as "blah, blah, blah".
The millionaire, who lives with his third wife and has four children, quickly overtook Fidesz in opinion polls, and stunned Mr Orban by defeating him in April's election, a poll that the right wing had for years seemed set to win.
The victory made his government the first to win re-election in post-communist Hungary, but he was soon under fire for admitting that to secure a second term he had obscured the real size of the budget deficit and backed imprudent tax cuts.
The government now hopes to limit the 2006 budget deficit to 10.1 per cent of gross domestic product, rather than its pre-election target of 4.7 per cent, and has announced major spending and employment cuts - as well as new and higher taxes and direct fees for health services and university tuition - that are deeply unpopular.
Fidesz now sees a golden opportunity to dominate local elections scheduled for next month, and perhaps oust their recent nemesis in the process.
"If the results of the October 1st vote show that the Hungarian people reject the [ reform] package, then the prime minister must go and take the package with him," Mr Orban said yesterday.
But for Mr Gyurcsany, Hungary's eccentric political fighter, such talk is only likely to stir the blood.
"I'm staying and I'm doing my job," he said yesterday.
"I'm extremely committed to fulfilling my programme, fiscal adjustments and reforms. I know it's very difficult for the people, but it's the only direction for Hungary."