Former Hungarian PM quits Socialists to form new party

Hungary's former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany announced Saturday that he would quit the opposition Socialist Party (MSZP) he once headed and establish a new party called the Democratic Coalition. The new party would be a left-center party and would build on the foundations of an existing party, the little-known Democratic Party founded in February, although it would change the latter's charter and name, said Gyurcsany, the country's prime minister from 2004 to 2009. This move enables the party to start operations immediately instead of waiting for official registration. The former prime minister cited irreconcilable differences with Socialist Party officials despite his yearlong efforts to reshape it following its severe defeat in 2010 elections, when it won only 59 mandates in the 386-seat parliament while the ruling Fidesz party took 262 with a two-thirds majority. Gyurcsany is joined by nine other formerly Socialist MPs, although he named only one of them, 35-year-old Csaba Molnar, who served as a minister in his cabinet. A minimum of 10 seats in parliament is required for a group to establish a party caucus. The parliamentary leaders would do everything in their power to hinder the new party's operation, he said. Gyurcsany is now suspected of abuse of office in a contested real estate project to build a casino on protected marshland. He submitted a complaint against the charges which he said are politically motivated.