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SOCIALIST LOCAL COUNCILLOR TO SUSPEND PARTY MEMBERSHIP OVER GRAFT 'SMEARS'

 

Csaba Lackner, a Socialist Party councillor in Budapest’s 19th district, said he was suspending his membership in the party after video and audio recordings or him talking about potential corrupt dealings concerning the district were made public. In a statement posted on the Facebook page of the Socialist Party’s local chapter, Lackner said he did not want the “smears and falsehoods” he said had been spread about him in the “pro-government press” to be a burden on his political community. “Though I once again won the confidence of the district’s voters last Sunday — proving that the smear campaign … against me had not achieved its goal — I don’t want to continue to make the community I’ve worked for faithfully and committedly a target of deceitful claims,” Lackner wrote.
Earlier this month, daily Magyar Nemzet and commercial news channel HírTV reported on leaked recordings of conversations that allegedly involved Lackner talking about potential corrupt dealings pertaining to the 19th district. HírTV has said the Budapest police (BRFK) has launched an investigation into alleged bribery and corruption against an unknown perpetrator.
Lackner, a joint candidate of the leftist opposition, was re-elected district councillor with 46% of the vote in Sunday’s local elections.