by Richard Young
After Hungarian media yesterday published oD's Bad Democracy results, voting has gone quite bananas, with votes pouring in from Hungary - causing panic/excitement/mild hysteria in the office. We watched transfixed as Hungary's Ferenc Gyurscany's handsome overnight lead was reduced and then overtaken by Thailand's General Sonthi. At first we thought it was simply broken. Then as we investigated further; perhaps a mad hacker had bypassed our security and was maniacally bashing away at his keyboard; Sonthi! Sonthi! Sonthi! However, voting eventually evened out with both Bad Boys in a rapid headlong race toward infamy.
With Gyurscany's supporters rallying around there man, it would seem that the Budapest Blagger's opponents have found a surprising hero in the figure of Sonthi The Slayer. Politics creates strange bedfellows.
As I write, the rather more serious (if perhaps equally meaningless) vote of confidence in is being cast in Hungary's parliament. With Gyurscany widely predicted to retain power, the large demonstrations, or "street blackmail" as Gyurscany derogatively calls them, will ultimately be a sideshow to the main event. It remains to be seen however whether the premier can salvage his relationship with Hungarian citizens seething over government economic incompetence and gargantuan political arrogance.
