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Text of report by Hungarian privately-owned newspaper Nepszabadsag on 12 September
[Interview with Ferenc Gyurcsany, chairman of the Democratic Coalition and former Hungarian prime minister, by Tamas Lajos Szalay; place and date not given: "'The Government Would Not Care Even if I Set Myself on Fire' - In Ferenc Gyurcsany's Opinion, Support for the Democratic Coalition Will Not Grow Because of the Hunger Strike"]
[Szalay] Did you ever think in 2006 when people "camped" on Kossuth Square [in Budapest] to urge your resignation that a day will come when you set up a tent in front of Parliament [and start a week-long hunger strike]?
[Gyurcsany] I do not remember considering this and let me admit that I did not plan to end up here three months ago, either.
[Szalay] What is your answer to those who say the following? Gyurcsany is only looking for a media surface because he can no longer playact in the courtroom after prosecution services terminated proceedings against him; therefore, he tries to find another reason and another place to attract public attention.
[Gyurcsany] My answer is this: Yes, the Democratic Coalition [DK] is looking for a media surface. How on earth could we reach voters in a different way? If I hold a major forum in the provinces and, say, 300 people attend it, it will be a success. In democratic politics which is saturated with the media, voters and politicians communicate with each other in a way that there is a mediator between them: the media. We can reach voters only if the press is interested in what we say, how we say it, and how we implement it. In this sense, this [hunger strike] is a deliberate political action that pierces the distance of silence and apathy.
[Szalay] But if a...