Laszlo Bene, the national police chief, and Peter Gergenyi, head of Budapest police, have been dismissed with effect from 31 May, Ferenc Gyurcsany announced today in a press conference. The prime minister said Jozsef Dobozi, head of the Police Security Service would also depart. Gyurcsany accepted justice minister Jozsef Petretei's resignation, also with effect from 31 May. The prime minister said there was no excuse for recent police failings.

"If this goes on, people will be sacred of every constable, every time they are asked to show their ID. We need a police force that protects, not one that we fear," said the prime minister.

The government hopes to have successors in place by 31 May. There may also be changes to the law on policing and on the management of the police forces, but the role of the ministry will remain unchanged, according to Gyurcsany.

He added that there was a need for regulatory changes. The government, he said, would come up with new measures to ensure that the police would be known for their professionalism and reliability. The prime minister said these decisions were not the result of a single concrete event. "Events as a whole, over a period of time, were sufficient to turn a political debate into a broad debate within society, leading to a loss of public confidence in the police."

A hvg.hu információi szerint Ármos Sándor, Nógrád megye rendõr-fõkapitányát szemelte ki Gyurcsány Ferenc a kirúgott Bene László országos rendõrfõkapitány helyére.
HVG.hu understands that Sandor Armos, Nograd country police chief is a likely candidate to succeed Laszlo Bene, the national police chief.

Tapsviharral fogadták a Fidesz kongresszusi küldöttei, amikor Szijjártó Péter, a párt szóvivõje bejelentette a hírt, hogy lemondott Petrétei József igazságügyi és rendészeti miniszter.
At Fidesz's congress, delegates cheered when Peter Szijjarto, the party's spokesman, announced that Jozsef Petretei had resigned.

Szijjarto reminded delegates that Fidesz had demanded the resignation of the minister and the two police chiefs on Friday. He added that when news of the police chief's dismissals emerged on Saturday, the party had called even more forcefully for Petretei's resignation.

The Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) welcomed the news. Ibolya David, the party's leader, called on Gyurcsany to re-establish the Ministry of the Interior, staffing it with competent leaders. She wrote in a statement that her party was expressing the views of "normal people" when it called for police chiefs to "suffer the consequences" of their "shameful actions."
Rendjén való, hogy személyi következményei is vannak az utóbbi idõben a rendõrségnél történt eseményeknek - közölte Horn Gábor szabad demokrata ügyvivõ.
Gabor Horn, a Free Democrat spokesman, also welcomed the news.

Horn continued, saying that a reshuflle would not be enough. The Free Democrats expected the new measure to take urgent steps to remedy the situation. He called for a new minister to be named as soon as possible. He added that Parliament was currently debating amendments to the police law, and that any amendments should make provision for civilian control of the police. He also mentioned that during last year's coalition negotiations, the Free Democrats had warned that merging the justice and police portfolios was not necessarily a positive step, because each area needed a different kind of leader.

He also noted that, since the ministry was in Socialist hands, the Free Democrats had little say in the matter. Turning to crimes committed by police officers in the recent past, he said individuals needed to be brought to account, but added that institutional guarantees were needed to re-establish confidence in the police force.

MTI/hvg.hu