OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 217, 8 November 1996

HUNGARIAN WELFARE MINISTER RETHINKS RESIGNATION. Gyorgy Szabo on 7
November announced his decision to delay his resignation for two weeks
at Prime Minister Gyula Horn's request, Reuters reported. "Horn and I
have agreed we should give each other two weeks to think about it,"
Szabo said. He added that the cabinet agreed to increase allocations for
indebted hospitals. -- Sharon Fisher


FINAL RESULTS IN ROMANIAN ELECTIONS RELEASED. Romania's Central
Electoral Bureau on 7 November released the final results of the first
round of presidential elections, Radio Bucharest and Reuters reported.
Incumbent President Ion Iliescu ranks first with 32.25%, followed by
Emil Constantinescu from the Democratic Convention of Romania (CDR) with
28.21%, and Petre Roman from the Social Democratic Union (USD) with
20.54%. In parliamentary elections, only six parties succeeded in
passing the 3% hurdle. The following are the winners with their
respective percentages for the Senate and Chamber of Deputies: the CDR:
30.70%, 30.17%; the Party of Social Democracy in Romania: 23.08%,
21.52%; the USD: 13.16%, 12.93%; the Hungarian Democratic Federation of
Romania: 6.81%, 6.64%; the Greater Romania Party, 4.54%, 4.46%; and the
Party of Romanian National Unity, 4.22%, 4.36%. -- Dan Ionescu

. . . WHILE ROMANIAN RULING PARTY LAUNCHES LAST-DITCH ATTACK. Miron
Mitrea, secretary general of the Party of Social Democracy in Romania,
on 7 November sharply criticized the opposition's efforts to set up a
ruling coalition, Radio Bucharest reported. Mitrea warned that a
possible alliance between the Democratic Convention of Romania (CDR) and
the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania would pose a threat to
Romania's national security. He accused the CDR of aspiring to take full
control at any price, including concessions to the Hungarian minority in
Romania. Meanwhile, President Ion Iliescu, while campaigning in Ialomita
and Braila counties, appealed to the electorate to "vote for a president
able to defend the many against the offensive of the Right in Romania."
He added that his opponent "does not deserve the electorate's
confidence" because of his "frequent [political] stammering." -- Dan
Ionescu and Zsolt Mato

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Valentina Huber