April 22, 2002, Monday, Late Edition - Final
                                                       Correction Appended

 SECTION: Section A; Page 8; Column 4; Foreign Desk

 LENGTH: 893 words

 HEADLINE: Hungarians Choose Socialist as New Leader

 BYLINE:   By IAN FISHER

 DATELINE: BUDAPEST, April 21

 BODY:
 Hungary's voters narrowly edged out their center-right government today, turning away from their brash young prime minister and choosing instead a
 low-key technocrat to lead the nation into the European Union two years from now.

 Only two weeks ago, a win did not seem likely for Peter Medgyssey, 59, the Hungarian Socialist Party's candidate for prime minister, who is not much at ease
 in the spotlight. But in the first round of elections on April 7, the Socialists and their ally, the Free Democrats, scored a surprise victory after a bitter campaign
 -- a victory they held onto, though barely, in the second round today. "Well, we won this," Mr. Medgyssey told supporters tonight, with the slight
 understatement that is becoming his political trademark.

 Turnout today was 71 percent, the highest since the fall of Communism and just one measure of the strong feelings unleashed in the campaign.

 After both rounds, the Socialists and Free Democrats reaped 198 seats in Parliament, compared with 188 for the Fidesz Party of Prime Minister Viktor Orban
 and its ally, the Hungarian Civic Party.

 But Fidesz ran strongly in the second round after two weeks of hard campaigning, pulling out voters in the countryside to win more individual seats today
 than the Socialists. It also scored higher today in what amounted to the popular vote, winning 49 percent, compared with the Socialists' 46 percent.

 With so few seats now separating the two sides, Zoltan Pokorni, the Fidesz Party leader, held out the hope tonight that Fidesz could win if several close
 races for parliamentary seats changed hands on recounts.

 But tonight Mr. Orban, 38, who built his career as an opposition politician, conceded defeat. He said the party would continue to push what he brands a
 revolution to strengthen Hungary's middle class, economy and national self-esteem.

 "Government was always a tool for us," he told his supporters. "The aim always was a free, independent, cultured Hungary. We lost a tool today. We lost
 the tool of governing. But the aim remains the same."

 Many experts said that the outcome tonight was less a victory for the Socialists than a defeat for Fidesz and Mr. Orban, a talented and ambitious politician
 whose aggressive style and appeals to nationalism alienated many voters. In fact, in a race that divided the country as never before since the end of
 Communism, Mr. Medgyssey, a banker, seemed to win much of his appeal by being a calm, even bland, anti-Orban.

 "I am convinced that it helped me," Mr. Medgyssey said in an interview on Friday night. "A real alternative had to be offered on the personal side too. I am a
 calm, thoughtful, experienced person. That's an alternative to Viktor Orban's style."

 Throughout the campaign, and particularly in its last weeks, Mr. Medgyssey's style did seem to win over voters -- though Fidesz supporters said the Socialists
 also pandered to fears that Mr. Orban would pull the nation dangerously to the political right. Tonight, he repeated that Hungary needed to reconcile.

 "We Hungarians depend very much on each other," he said. "The country divided into two camps and, after forming a new government, the country must
 begin to reconcile immediately. Instead of digging trenches, we need to reintroduce a normal, calm voice again."

 Though Mr. Medgyssey has held a number of high public positions, including two stints as finance minister, he is not well known in Hungary. Fidesz
 strategists often emphasized his roots as a Communist finance official, saying that he represented a return to the past.

 Friends and political acquaintances say he is a competent manager, skilled in finance, the pleasant man he seemed during the campaign -- if without the
 personal charm or media savvy of Mr. Orban.

 "He's not a Clinton," said Elemer Hankiss, a political analyst and former chief of Hungarian state television. "He's not a charming Don Giovanni. He is not a
 magician in his personal relations. I hope he is a magician in his industrial, political and economic relations."

 Born in Budapest in 1942, he is the son of a midlevel diplomat who was posted to Romania. He speaks fluent Romanian as well as French and some Russian,
 and his English is reportedly improving.

 After earning his doctorate in Budapest, he joined the finance ministry and was part of a team of young reform economists in the 1960's under Communism
 charged with mixing market forces with state planning. He was appointed finance minister in 1987, then was deputy prime minister from 1988 to 1989.

 When Communism fell, he became a banker, then served as finance minister again from 1996 to 1998, during the Socialists' first term in office. He was picked
 as the Socialists' candidate largely as a compromise between factions in the party, and he himself is not a member.

 In an interview, Mr. Medgyssey said that as prime minister he would speed up the process of moving to the European Union. He also said he wanted to
 strengthen democratic reforms, freedom of the press and business competition.

 "I think democracy should be made to work even if it's difficult for the government," he said in the interview. "The opposition will make the government
 accountable, too. I think this will make us perform better, and that's what's most important."
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 CORRECTION-DATE: April 23, 2002, Tuesday

 CORRECTION:
 An article yesterday about the election victory of the Hungarian Socialist Party candidate, who is to become prime minister, misspelled his surname. It is Peter
 Medgyessy, not Medgyssey.