Hungarian former sports minister Ferenc Gyurcsany was nominated by the country's Socialist Party (MSZP) for the post of prime minister on Wednesday in Budapest, the Hungarian news agency MTI reported. The 43-year-old Gyurcsany, who came in second behind Chancellory Minister Peter Kiss in earlier party votes, won out on the basis support from rank and file party members. Gyurcsany received 453 of 657 votes. He pledged "stable" economic policies and "more dynamic" social policies. He also said he would nominate Kiss for the post of chancellory minister. Current Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy officially resigned on Wednesday, five days after he offered to step down following a row with liberals over a cabinet reshuffling. The Socialists had accepted his resignation. Born in June 4, 1961 in the small western Hungarian town of Papa, Gyurcsany studied to be a teacher but then turned to economics at the University of Pecs in the country's south-west. Politically active at university, Gyurcsany became chairman in 1989 of the newly formed Democratic Youth Federation. Two years after graduation, he became the director of the investment company Eurocorp, and afterwards joined the financial firm Altus eventually becoming its chairman of the board. Gyurcsany was one of the richest persons in Hungary when he entered national politics in 2002.
