Karacsony: Govt sowing fear in Budapest with 'blackmail'

Opposition mayoral candidate Gergely Karacsony on Wednesday rejected as "blackmail" a government "threat" to voters to scrap the pact between the government and Budapest -- which contains generous central government funding -- if incumbent mayor Istvan Tarlos were to lose the October 13 local election. Karacsony, the joint candidate of the Socialist, Parbeszed, Democratic Coalition and Liberal parties, said that Gergely Gulyas, the head of the prime minister's office, had recently declared that the agreement had been signed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban "as a private citizen", and that should Tarlos lose the election the agreement would be null and void. Karacsony called on Budapest voters "not to give in to blackmail".