He told a news conference on Wednesday that if Vida fails to hand in her resignation then Economy Minister Mihály Varga should sack her without delay.

A statement by Vida confirming she was on the US blacklist is an “important but by far not sufficient” development in the case, the E-PM alliance said in a statement on Wednesday. E-PM added that Vida had insisted that “the government knew about the case”. E-PM called on the government to reveal why “they lied, saying they had no information about the persons affected”.

Green party LMP today called for a comprehensive screening of the tax office and urged Vida to quit her post. The party also demanded that the government take action.

The opposition Hungarian Liberal Party called on Vida to resign on Wednesday.

If she refuses to resign, then it is Orban’s responsibility to sack the tax office chief “embroiled in alleged corruption”, the party said. Vida failed to appear before parliament’s national security committee at a hearing that also dealt with a US entry ban on Wednesday.

The tax office was represented by deputy chief Árpád Varga and other senior officials. Deputy head of the opposition Democratic Coalition Ágnes Vadai, who is not a member of the committee, said shortly before the meeting that ruling Fidesz party members in the committee had “banned” her from appearing before the body.

Vadai said, however, that she would initiate making public parts of the minutes about the US ban on the tax office chief and officials.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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MTI photo: Kovács Attila