He said that the financial institution cannot be a billeting place for off-shore knights. However, the rejoinder to this statement was not why it should not be - as if it were perfectly normal for the directors of the Hungarian National Bank to withdraw billions from the general and proportionate sharing of taxation without having to give a dime about the community that pays their huge salaries.

However, adding such a note of sarcasm would have been at least as inappropriate as Hungary having a governor of the central bank involved in offshore deals. Instead, reporters came out with the same old questions, such as "how will the markets in Brussels and Washington respond to an attack against an independent central bank?", as if there had been an attempt to interfere with monetary policy. Some left-lib political analysts had the audacity to say that a weakening Forint (and Zloty, and Leu and Crown etc.) could be attributed to Orbán, even though the downward turn in the region was actually caused by S&P slashing the credit rating of the Greek bonds.      

It is a mystery to me how the governor does not accept that by concealing the machinations of tax evasion he has lost his claim to legitimacy in just the same way as Ferenc Gyurcsány did after the speech he made in Őszöd was leaked. It is not his unsuitability that has come into question but his worthiness. He can remain in his post - according to the law - as the former prime minister remained in his, only to destroy the moral credibility of his party and the country, not to mention his own reputation. (Only now are the socialists scrutinizing themselves).

Simor has become a symbol for the ducking of general and proportionate taxation just as Gyurcsány became one for lies. And a government struggling with an economic crisis with every means at its disposal while requesting the cooperation of the community must - at a minimum - make it clear that they distance themselves from the governor of the central bank. If it does not, it will incur widespread public anger and the radicals will stigmatize Orbán for supporting Simor.

I suspect that the governor, who is clinging to his position, has not properly interpreted public service which is set upon the principle of the people's sovereignty. Independence is not synonymous with "from nowhere".  Neither the judiciary, nor the leadership of the central bank can afford to be independent of their own credibility, the public trust in them or indeed, of distrust.

This top banker preaching general and proportionate taxation in a financial crisis and at the same time evading tax in Cyprus is unpalatable for the people he is supposed to represent. He is not legitimate. This is not so complicated. This is all Orbán was referring to. But the leader of the socialist faction also raised a point to the attention of the public in June of last year when he said: "Simor failed the moral test, which in an economic crisis, the left wing expects from somebody in a responsible position". And since the scandal broke, the president of the republic has been reluctant to receive the first man of the Central Bank.

Despite all of this, he wishes to stay.

However, the "markets" cannot patch up the gaping hole in Simor's ship, since if the governor of the central bank is not kept in his position by the people's sovereignty or its representatives, but instead by some kind of external power, then it may well be generally believed that he does not represent the Hungarian national interest in the markets, but rather those of the markets in the Central Bank. Even in more carefree times it would be an undesirable message, but in radicalized circumstances it is an outright unforgivable sin.

Simor does not understand where he is and what his job entails and he has demonstrated this frequently (e.g. when he called upon the prime minister to resign in a private letter, evidently, in the name of the markets.....). Now his hyped up communications team are preparing to do battle; an ongoing battle with the government in Gyurcsány's style. (Perhaps this is also an imitation of Zsigmond Járai, although there is a notable difference: his predecessor's moral standing was impeccable, while his is in ruins).

The socialists are now - in contradiction with their earlier stance - lining up behind Simor. They believe that it is in their interests to oppose Orbán at any price. But they are mistaken in this too. They should realize that by ignoring the interests of the people who live here and by merely pursuing the servile policy catering to the imagined interests of Moscow, Brussels, Washington or the markets, not only will they be incapable of rejuvenating themselves, but they will also bring the fate of the social democrats upon their heads.