Word: kadarism
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...Communist Eastern Europe, but last week Hungary provided a genuine cliff-hanger. When 986 participants at the country's first national party conference in 31 years gathered in Budapest's trade-union meeting hall, word went out that the official agenda, bearing the imprimatur of Party Leader Janos Kadar, had been quietly shelved. As the conference began, the key question was whether Kadar, 75, might also be shelved. In his opening speech, Kadar himself acknowledged the need to "rejuvenate" the party leadership...
...strongest challenge to Kadar's rule appeared to come from ambitious and pragmatic Prime Minister Karoly Grosz, 57. Installed as Prime Minister last June, Grosz, along with most Hungarians, has lately grown impatient with Kadar's determination to hang on to power. In April the Prime Minister told the daily Magyar Hirlap that politicians should not try to disobey "biological laws," an all but direct slap at the leader who has come to be known unflatteringly in Hungary as "Old Uncle Janos...
...Even if Kadar should manage to cling to his job, the party conference appeared to mark the end of his era. Placed in power on the eve of the Soviet invasion that crushed the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Kadar was initially reviled as the "Butcher of Budapest" for his role in the brutal repression that followed. He later gained popularity with his bold economic experiments, which gave the country more than a decade of prosperity. But the economy began to falter in the late 1970s, leading to a sharp decline in living standards...
...debate over new economic reforms has become increasingly linked to demands for a recasting of Hungarian political life and a greater degree of pluralism. Last week, for example, employees of Hungarian scientific and academic institutions formed an independent union. Kadar has stubbornly resisted such moves. But the emergence of non-Communist political currents of some sort seems inevitable -- with or without Kadar...
Throughout his 75-minute speech, Kadar faced a nervous and restless audience which, unlike other party meetings, applauded him only after he finished his remarks...