Hungary's Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said today he expected to stay in his post and fight the next election in 2010 despite a plunge in popularity due to his tough austerity measures.
Mr Gyurcsany, who has weathered anti-government riots including Monday's clashes on the anniversary of Hungary's 1956 uprising against Soviet rule, said his governing coalition partners fully backed his fiscal cuts and economic reform plans.
"I have staked my political future on this programme ... there is no internal opposition to either the programme or my person within the Socialist Party," he told foreign journalists.
He added that the Free Democrats junior coalition party also backed the programme aimed to cut Hungary's huge budget deficit and put the country back on the road to euro adoption.
"Although what happens in the short term is politically a big challenge for us ... in 2010 the election can be won with what I stand for, but not with what my opponent represents," Mr Gyurcsany said.
"In Hungary a moderate politics of modernisation will win in 2010 as well, which will be about the future," he added.
Mr Gyurcsany, whose admission on a leaked tape last month that he lied about the parlous state of the budget to win April's election triggered the worst protests since communism ended, said he did not care about a loss of popularity.
According to a poll published yesterday, the main right of centre opposition party Fidesz had 32 percent voter support against 24 percent for the Socialists.
Since becoming the first Hungarian leader to win re-election since communism ended in 1989, Mr Gyurcsany has reversed tax cuts to rein in the budget deficit which at 10.1 percent of gross domestic product is the biggest in the European Union.
He needs to implement further reforms of the costly education and health sectors, which will likely see hospitals and universities close, and to slim down state administration so as to make sure government spending comes under control.
Gyurcsany said he had told his Socialist party that the European Parliament elections in 2009 will be the time when Hungarians will give the first real feedback on the reforms.
Hungary's main opposition Fidesz party proposed on Monday that a referendum should be held on some of the key emotive issues of the government's reform agenda, like charging for higher education and doctor visit fees among others.
Mr Gyurcsany said he believed the referendum, which could be held next year, would fail as it would not get the necessary backing from 25 per cent of Hungary's 8 million eligible voters.
Fidesz, which demands Mr Gyurcsany should step down and his government be replaced with an interim cabinet of professionals, has said the way to sort out Hungary's budget deficit is to cut taxes to create more jobs and boost the economy.