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The Institute for Ethics and Economic
Policy (IEEP) |
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In Hungary,
bribes make some doctors more equal than others. It has been reported that Surgeons and gynecologists
receive far more bribes than their colleagues from patients ready to pay for
an extra bit of medical attention in state hospitals. In the cash-strapped
state healthcare system, most doctors live on salaries just above the average
gross monthly. (Agence France Presse 12 Oct 2003 summary by Sherldine Tomlinson). Education Ministry scandal. Lajos Sari, who is the undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, resigned from his post because of suspicions of abuses. Balint Magyar who is a minister also accepted the offer of resignation. Magyar said that the internal examination found Sari affected in the case of the tender by the National Vocational Training Institute though the law was not violated. Karoly Herenyi, the faction leader of the Hungarian Democratic Forum urged the resignation of Magyar as his Ministry was affected in many similar cases of corruption (Magyar Nemzet Jun 06 2003 summary by Sherldine Tomlinson).
DRAFT ANTI-CORRUPTION LAW PACKAGE OUTLINED It's reported
that Hungarian anti-corruption law package called "see-thought pocket
programme" may be submitted to parliament December this year. It's said
that regulations on the foundation of state owned companies would be made
stricter and State Audit Office, ASZ is allowed to follow the use of public
funds from the Treasury right to the final users. (BBC Monitoring Service,
FORMER SMALLHOLDER DEPUTY SENTENCED FOR BRIBERY It was
reported that the
POLICE INVESTIGATES OPPOSITION CANDIDATE ON SUSPICIONS OF
PROFITEERING IN A REAL ESTATE DEAL.
OPPOSITION PARTIES ACCUSE THE GOVERNMENT OF MISUSING PUBLIC FUNDS FOR FUNDING THEIR ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN. The opposition Socialist Party has objected to the fact that the government and major coalition party, FIDESZ, has used funds from the National Image Center, to buy full page ads on 7th December in four national papers and on 8th December in 20 other county papers to publish an ostensible “Parliamentary Report”, which was essentially a government campaign. The Independent Smallholders’ Party Deputy Chairman has also deplored the act. (Radio Free Europe, December 10, 2001, summary by Aruna Balakrishnan). EMERGENCY
LEGISLATION ON MONEY- LAUNDERING TO BE INTRODUCED. Hungary was the only
member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
that was amongst the 19 states which the Financial Action Task Force (FATF),
also an agency of OECD, had hauled up for weak anti- money laundering
standards. The FATF campaign, which has caught on steam after the September
11th attacks mentions that terrorists and criminals make use of secretive
channels in the country. In response Hungarian Finance minister has said that
an emergency legislation would be introduced this month in parliament which
would be effective from January first. He said that the legislation would
cover financial institutions, banks, antique dealers, lawyers, accountants,
property dealers and customs agents, making it mandatory for Clients to
report the source of big cash transactions. For Hungary, which is pursuing a
European Union membership, this has come as an embarrassment and it hopes
that these urgent measures to revert to international standards would remove
it from the blacklist. (Financial
Times, November 2, 2001, summary by Aruna Balakrishnan).
OFFICIALS REACT TO
INTERNET WEB SITE CLAIMS OF BRIBERY. An internet website called STOP alleges that there was bribery
involved in the efforts by the Defence Ministry to procure fighter
planes. The Bureau of National Security has no information about this
claim appearing on the website. (Hungarian News Agency (MTI), August 9,
2001, summary by Barbara Gray). Financial Action Task Force (FATF), international body against money laundering has ADDED this country to its Blacklist.(Wall St. J. June 22, 2001, p. A3). BUDAPEST.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stepped into to sort out allegations of
corruption against the Independent Smallholders' Party, a member of his
three-party ruling coalition. The
Independent Smallholders' Party has been hit by a series of corruption
allegations, including charges that the party chief, Jozef Torgyan, has built
a series of luxury mansions in Budapest at a cost far beyond his legal means.
(Europen Internet Network, January 31, 2001, summary by B. Gray). BUDAPEST Parliament undecided about report on corruption that deals with police contact with mafia. (Hungarian TV2 satellite service, December 13, 2000, summary by B. Gray).
MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT ENTER IN
FIERCE DEBATE ON CORRUPTION. According to Ildiko Lendvai, deputy head of the
Socialists' [HSP] parliamentary floor group, the ruling parties used public
money to strengthen their own power or they just spent it on themselves. The
Justice Minister of Hungary, Ibolya David, replied on behalf of the
government and said that those who were guilty had already ended up in court
in the previous and current term. The Justice minister also said that efforts
were under way in the legislative and judicial spheres "to create a
public life, which is free of corruption". (Source: Central Europe
Online, BBC monitoring, November 29,2000, summary by Pavlidis George). BUDAPEST - A Hungarian parliament member belonging to
the conservative ruling coalition has been
arrested after being caught in the act of receiving $65,600 from a
businessman in a Budapest Hotel. The detained politician, Zoltan
Szekely, head of a parliamentary commission controlling public
acquisitions, has denied any wrongdoing and claims he was the
victim of a set up. (Hungary Today, October 19,2000. Summary by
Fabian Camacho). Hungarian parliament aims to overturn image
of institutional corruption (Central Europe Online/Hungary
Today, 25.8.00, http://www.centraleurope.com/hungarytoday/news.php3?id=192172) Headline, 25-AUGUST-2000, Link may not work
after a few days. The OECD anti-Corruption report for The Index of Economic Freedom (by Driscoll-Holmes-Kirkpatrick) for 2001 places Hungary in the “Mostly Free” category with a rank of 42 (Ranks range from 1 for Hong Kong to 155 for North Korea, Wall Street Journal, Nov. 1, 2000). H. D. Vinod’s trimmed correlation analysis indicates that countries free from economic regulation are less corrupt. After allowing for some exceptions by 20% trimming, the correlation is near 0.9. |
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Design:
Theo den Brinker |
Copyright:
Hrishikesh D. Vinod 2000 |
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