Anti-government demonstration held in Hungary

BUDAPEST. December 24. KAZINFORM Around 5,000 protestors attended an anti-government demonstration, organized by the opposition LMP, near the Hungarian parliament in Budapest on Friday, Xinhua reported.

The protest followed dramatic scenes outside the parliament earlier in the day as police arrested several demonstrators, including former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany and Attila Mesterhazy, leader of the largest opposition party, the Socialists, though both were released later.

The protestors were demonstrating against a raft of controversial laws concerning electoral system and economic stability which the parliament, dominated by the conservative Fidesz party, passed on Friday.

Both the Socialists and LMP have strongly criticized the new laws for being anti-democratic. Before the final votes, the Socialist Party and LMP representatives walked out of the chamber in protest.

"This is a black day of democracy as parliament approved new house rules and laws on the central bank, election and financial stability," LMP spokeswoman Bernadett Szel told the protesting crowd.

Gyurcsany, who left the Socialist Party this year to set up a new party, the Democratic Coalition, said earlier in the day that he joined the protest which marked the beginning of a "new national democratic opposition."