The second long dark night of Hungary ended with 60 wounded and 100 arrests following violent confrontations between police and center-right protesters.

The Liar. After the assault on the Parliament building Monday night, which left hundreds of wounded, thousands crowded into Kossuth Plaza. The anger against Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, “The Liar,” turned into an attack on the state television. Reacting to Monday night’s destruction, this time the police appeared in full riot gear, but the demonstrators were not discouraged. Protesters yelled anti-government slogans throughout the night in the plaza, center of the 1956 revolt against the Soviet occupation. Last week, Hungary’s MTV television broadcast a tape in which the Prime Minister admitted lying to voters. In his mea culpa, Gyurcsany confessed to having misled voters about the nation’s economic situation in order to win the election. He also admitted that his government had achieved nothing during its recent term in office.

Golden Boy. Many believe that Gyurcsany’s confessions merely acknowledged a situation everyone had long sensed, involving a combination of high taxes and austerity programs imposed by the socialist government. Opposition leader Viktor Orban, whose center right Fidesz party lost last April’s elections, is trying to lead the protests. He has demanded Gyurcsany’s resignation and described him as a “lying, pathetic dilettante.” But the Prime Minister answered by saying, “I will remain at my post and carry on my work. The fiscal reforms must be completed.” The street protests have shocked a nation that considers itself a model of progress among those who experienced the collapse of communism. In 1989, Hungary played a key role in ending the system of satellite states in Eastern Europe, by opening its borders with Austria to allow thousands of East German refugees to flee to the West. Before this scandal, Gyurcsany was considered the golden boy of the socialist party. Young, promising, and charismatic, he was viewed as the ideal pilot to guide Hungary toward prosperity and full recognition as a new member of the European Union.