LÁSZLÓ SÓLYOM WANTS TO BE A MODEST PRESIDENT

The new president does not support the idea of a direct presidential election.

László Sólyom, President of Hungary takes his office today. He said he wanted to work with a restraint, he wished to change the coarse style of political speech, and in his opinion the question of dual citizenship was not closed. In the evening programme of the public television he said the idea of a direct presidential election was not a good one because the parliamentary traditions opposed it and the campaign of the political parties would go on in that case, too. He said as former chairman of the Constitutional Court he was against a wider sphere of presidential authority as in critical issues the Hungarian president had a relatively wide sphere of authority. (The retiring president, Ferenc Mádl argued for the advantages of a wider authority and a direct presidential election.) Mr Sólyom said he did not want to be a justice of peace among parties and he could embody the unity of the nation by showing an authentic example including the art of being silent. ’The main goal is to stick to the spirit of the constitution’, he said.