OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 120, 20 June 1996

STILL NO CONCLUSION IN HUNGARIAN "OILGATE" INVESTIGATION.
Representatives of the Socialists and the Free Democrats--the two
governing parties--on 19 June walked out of a meeting of the commission
investigating the so-called "Oilgate" scandal, Hungarian media reported.
They claimed they were protesting the regular absence of opposition
members at sessions of the commission. Opposition deputies and the press
previously revealed several Socialist Party members' involvement in
suspicious deals related to Russian-Hungarian oil shipments, including
the present trade and industry minister and his immediate predecessor.
Magyar Hirlap on 20 June reported that the commission found major
irregularities in the work of an inter-ministerial commission set up to
assess bids for settling the Russian debt with oil shipments. Otherwise,
an ominous silence has surrounded the "Oilgate" affair since the
parliamentary commission began operating six months ago. -- Zsofia
Szilagyi

HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT OPENS DEBATE ON NEW CONSTITUTION. The parliament on
19 June began debating the new constitution and appeared most divided
over whether to include social rights in that document, Hungarian
dailies reported. The junior coalition party Alliance of Free Democrats
and the opposition Young Democrats are generally opposed to the idea,
while most other parties are in favor. A leading SZDSZ deputy said that
although all parties agree that the state must undertake social
commitments, no Western constitution defines such rights as individual
rights. The question is especially important as the country is reforming
the welfare system. Incorporating social rights could slow down such
reforms, as was the case last year when the Constitutional Court struck
down several provisions of the stabilization program. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave