higher than expected and had grown to an almost 10% of the GDP by the end of 2006. These measures were heavily criticized by both the opposition, led by Fidesz, as being too harsh on the people, and by liberal economists, for not reducing spending enough on social benefits, including pensions. Gyurcsány was the first prime minister since the fall of communism to try to introduce a health care reform in order to rationalize and modernize the national health care system. His efforts for a renewed and more efficient health care however, have been undermined mainly by his own party, as many Socialist Party members regard this reform as a threat to the communist-era achievement of free and equal health care service to all. The Őszöd Speech and the resulting protests On 17 September 2006, an audio recording surfaced, allegedly from a closed-door meeting of the Prime Minister's party MSZP, held on 26 May 2006, shortly after MSZP won the election. On the recording, Gyurcsány admitted "we have obviously been lying for the last one and a half to two years." ("Nyilvánvalóan végighazudtuk az utolsó másfél-két évet."). Despite public outrage, the Prime Minister refused to resign, and a series of demonstrations started near the Hungarian Parliament, swelling from 2,000 to about 8,000 demonstrators calling for the resignation of Gyurcsány and his government for several weeks. The Prime Minister admitted the authenticity of the recording. On 1 October, the governing party suffered a landslide defeat in the local municipal elections. On the eve of the elections, before the results were known, President László Sólyom gave a speech in which he said that the solution to the situation is in the hands of the majority in Parliament. Vote of confidence As Prime Minister, Gyurcsány was a strong advocate of the South Stream pipeline project, which aimed to supply Russian gas directly to the European Union (EU), bypassing transit countries such as Ukraine. He signed the contract in Moscow just a week before the popular election in Hungary, which showed around 80% of the votes were against the government reforms. On 6 October 2006, Gyurcsány won a vote of confidence in Parliament, 207–165, with no coalition MP voting against him. The vote was public. Resignation On 21 March 2009, Gyurcsány announced his intention to resign as Prime Minister. He stated that he was a hindrance to further economic and social reforms. Gyurcsány asked