“I cannot see any pressuring circumstances that would make me change my mind,” President Ferenc Mádl said after Fidesz voiced its proposal to reappoint him. Mádl is not considering to stay in his post. Although he was asked infor-mally, he cannot see a reason that would make him change his mind.

In 1995 Mádl accepted his nomination by then opposition party Fidesz for two reasons. “One of the reasons was that I found the possibility of choice as a ba-sic value of democracy. At the same time, I found the nomination honorable and deemed the opposition parties’ idea important that they selected a morally and professionally supported candidate for the post,” Mádl said.

Five years later “I accepted the candidacy for the same reasons and became President. However, I insisted then that I will accept the post only for one term,” Mádl added.

János Áder, Fidesz’s Parliamentary group leader announced last Friday that Mádl’s name is on the list of the five candidates included in a sympathy vote Fidesz started on Monday.

Fidesz Chairman Viktor Orbán said in a television program Sunday evening that Mádl is generally respected by the public, and he made a good job repre-senting the unity of the Hungarian nation in his five years of service. “Why shouldn’t he stay?,” Orbán said, adding that Mádl’s name will not be removed from the list of Fidesz’s candidates until he asks for it.