Receptionists at Magyar Rádió will have a problem on Monday if someone asks to speak to the head of the organisation. They could patch through János Hollós, whom Katalin Kondor named as her temporary successor once it became clear that there was no chance of finding a new president. Or they could forward the call to István Szijártó, the current business manager. He was chosen as temporary head by the politically-appointed governors of the Magyar Rádió Public Foundation (MRK), although only the governing parties' governors voted.

But everyone says the situation is straightforward. Gábor Gellért Kis, the Socialist chairman of the board of governors and Károly Szadai, his Fidesz deputy, both think so - only the former believes Szijártó to be Kondor's legal successor, whereas the latter is equally sure that Holló is next in line. Both sides suggest that the other takes the matter to the courts. All that was certain at close of press was that Kondor's mandate would expire on July 31 and that after two voting rounds the governors had still not managed to choose a new radio chief.

The hand-over seemed simpler at the beginning. The position was advertised in March, and six applied. The journalist György Such was the early favourite, winning the approval of both big parties. But he fell at the second hurdle - the extended board of governors, which includes civil society representatives, rejected him. But only Such was discouraged, since there were 15 applicants for the job when it was next advertised. But now it was the parties that were unable to agree. There were 14 applicants on the third go, including four new entrants.