By David Chance BUDAPEST, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Hungary's Socialist government and the opposition clashed on Friday over who was to blame for the rise of the far-right at a press conference which had been billed as a joint event to condemn a paramilitary group. Hungary's warring politicians have been even more deeply divided than usual since a far-right party at the weekend set up a uniformed "guard" which its critics say sports insignia mimicking the Nazi era. Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said the Fidesz opposition cooperated with Jobbik, the far-right party which formed the "Hungarian Guard", to run local councils, and was actively seeking support from far-right voters. "Such a party (Fidesz) is looking for the support of some hundreds of people. That party is able to fight against so many things, but now they hide," Gyurcsany told the press conference of the five parliamentary parties. Far-right political parties have not been represented in parliament since 2002 and active supporters are reckoned to number in their thousands, but they took a major role in leading anti-government protests last year. Those protests were triggered by the leaking of a tape in which Gyurcsany admitted he had lied about the poor state of the economy to win the 2006 general election. The leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group, Tibor Navracsics, angered by Gyurcsany's attack at the press conference, said the far-right was on the rise in Hungary because the prime minister had betrayed democracy. He charged that the Socialist Party had members who had made open anti-Semitic comments, noted that Gyurcsany had been a young communist at the time of the regime change and said Gyurcsany was using the issue to his government's failings. "The Hungarian Socialist Party is a party with anti-Semitic feelings," Navracsics said, noting that Gyurcsany lived in a house which had been confiscated from a Jewish family twice, once by the fascist Arrow Cross and once by the communists. Asked to denounce the Hungarian Guard, Navracsics said only that all parties agreed that it was "bad". Political tension in Hungary has been rising with the anniversary of the leaking of Gyurcsany's "lies" speech approaching on Sept. 17. Even now, Fidesz leaves parliament when Gyurcsany speaks.
