RESIGNATION OF HUNGARIAN MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND

UNCLAS BUDAPEST 000857 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CE JAMIE MOORE. PLEASE PASS TO JEFF HOVENIER AT THE NSC. E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV HU SUBJECT: RESIGNATION OF HUNGARIAN MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ¶1. (U) Tibor Draskovics, Minister of Justice and Law enforcement, unexpectedly announced his resignation December ¶2. His resignation comes two days after the Parliament passed the controversial 2010 budget (septel). Draskovics stated that "we have successfully accomplished our legislative work and other tasks related to the management of the current financial crisis and the remaining few months prior to the national elections will mostly be about party politics rather than substantive work." (Comment. Draskovics was referring to the upcoming national elections, anticipated in April 2010. End comment.) Prime Minster Gordon Bajnai, currently in Washington for Friday's meeting with the Vice-President, through his spokesperson, expressed regret but accepted the resignation. ¶2. (SBU) Comment. Draskovics' public statement outlining his reasons for leaving are viewed as credible now that Parliament passed the 2010 budget. Not a member of the Socialist Party (MSZP),he had numerous disagreements with the ruling MSZP parliamentary caucus when he was Finance Minister in 2004-2005. As a technocrat and Cabinet Minister rather than a politician, he clearly sees that he has no place in the political theater after the 2010 elections. He may also be the first of other government Ministers who decide that now is the time to abandon the governing Socialist Party ship in anticipation of MSZP's significant defeat in the April 2010 elections. As he leaves the Justice and Law Enforcement portfolio, we will be watching closely to see if his resignation diminishes the government's recent focus on racially-motivated criminal acts, particularly against Roma in the countryside. End comment. LEVINE