Eight ?politically committed? members have left the organisation, which has approximately 1,000 members in total, Hungarian Writers? Alliance secretary László L. Simon told the Hungarian News Agency (MTI) on Monday. Zoltán Sumonyi, Ferenc Baranyi, Géza Molnár, Iván Vitányi, Viktória Radics, István Litauszky, István Tótfalusi, and Géza Fodor decided to leave the alliance, most of them without explaining their choice, Simon said.
The decision by the members followed a statement by the alliance on October 16 admonishing the prime minister for his ?false words and acts?. In a statement which followed, the alliance voiced objection to alleged police brutality against anti-government protesters on the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution on October 23.
In a letter forwarded to MTI, Géza Molnár, one of the writers who left the alliance wrote, ?I am outraged that the steering committee is taking the representatives of literature onto the political stage, criticizing the government and the coalition parties in line with rightwing (and rightwing extremist) political party views.?
Hungary?s parliamentary opposition has called for the resignation of the prime minister since a leaked tape revealed he lied about the state of the economy to win elections. In spite of the revelations, the prime minister was given a vote of confidence by Parliament. But this failed to satisfy many Hungarians and some took to the streets to protest in demonstrations which turned violent.
Another of the writers who left, Zoltán Sumonyi, published his decision to leave the alliance in the October 26 issue of Élet és Irodalom, Hungary?s most important literary journal. ?I am in favour of parliamentary democracy so I no longer want to be a member of an alliance whose steering committee neglects democratic rules,? Sumonyi wrote.
Simon said the statements were released by the alliance?s steering committee, which makes decisions for the body. The alliance is entitled to issue such statements, while its members have the right to leave if they do not agree, he said.
He stressed that the eight members? leaving was different from another wave of departures in January 2004 after the alliance failed to distance itself from one of its members after he made anti-Semitic remarks in a speech. 135 members left the alliance after the incident.
Simon noted that 35 new members had joined the alliance in the past 18 months, although the alliance usually accepts only one-third of applicants.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
