Hungarian
President Pal Schmitt attends a signing cooperation between the
minorities in
Szentgotthard March 8, 2012. (Credit: Reuters/Srdjan Zivulovic)
|
(Reuters) -
Hungarian President Pal Schmitt came under growing pressure on Thursday to
stand down after being accused of plagiarizing parts of his doctoral thesis,
which critics say threatens the integrity of his office.
His role is
largely ceremonial but Schmitt has had an instrumental role in Prime Minister
Viktor Orban's reforms, signing controversial legislation such as retroactive
taxes and a $14 billion pension grab into law without once raising a veto.
Schmitt,
69, a two-time Olympic gold medal-winning fencer, became president in 2010 when
Orban's ruling conservative Fidesz party elected him for a period of five
years.
He has
denied wrongdoing since business news portal hvg.hu first reported allegations
in January that he had copied large parts of his thesis from other authors
without proper quotation or referencing.
But
national news agency MTI reported on Thursday that Budapest's Semmelweis
University had proposed that Schmitt's doctorate be withdrawn based on the
findings of its inquiry into the allegations. A final decision is expected
later.
The leading
right-leaning daily Magyar Nemzet called on Thursday on Schmitt to resign,
saying his position had become untenable.
"It is
our belief that his staying is also against his own interests," the paper
wrote in an editorial. "This is a losing battle. The destruction of the
institution and the crumbling of faith in an honorable public life cannot be
stopped like this."
STANDARDS
Two German
politicians, including the defense minister, resigned last year after similar
accusations of plagiarizing economic papers.
While
opposition parties have called on Schmitt to step down, Fidesz said after the
findings of the inquiry were published on Tuesday that it considered the matter
closed.
Schmitt was
quoted by national news agency MTI as saying on Wednesday during a visit to
Seoul that he would not resign, adding that the conclusions of the committee
served a "some kind of redress" to him.
The
committee set up at Semmelweis University said that while the 215-page thesis
contained "unusually large amounts of verbatim translation", it was
found to have met the formal standards of the time.
It said 180
pages of Schmitt's thesis, "An analysis of the program of Modern Olympic
Games", showed partial overlaps with a study written in French by a
Bulgarian sport researcher, and 16 pages were copied from another author.
Schmitt, a
former Fidesz vice president, received the doctorate from the Budapest Sports
University in 1992, according to the presidential office's website www.keh.hu.
The
1,157-page inquiry report, which was not made available to the public, found
the Sports University at fault for not identifying this overlap with other
works in time, leading Schmitt to believe his work was in line with
requirements.
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