A fairy tale about Lajos Bokros and the University of Panama

József Bognár was the principal of the Lónyay protestant high school and knew the father of Lajos Bokros, the notorious minister of finance in the Horn administration. According to József Bognár, his friend that was an economist and had a civilian position in the protestant church, regularly informed him about his son's academic advancement.

According to the father's account, Lajos Bokros drafted into the Hungarian Armed Forces, in 1972. After serving a year in the army, he went to the Soviet Union to study finance in the college of Rostov. This was the same institution where Gyula Horn, the first post-communist prime minister of Hungary has also received his certificate. Mr. Bokros stayed in Rostov for 3 years and received his certificate in finance in 1976 or 1977.

The interesting thing is that in his parliamentary almanac, Mr. Bokros kept quiet about his time in the Soviet Union; he claimed, he had studied economics at the Karl Marx University, in Budapest, between 1973 and 1978. In addition, he had completed his post-graduate studies in economics, at the University of Panama, in 1979.

According to József Bognár, the father of Lajos Bokros has never mentioned that his son studied at the Karl Marx University. When inquired at the Karl Marx University about Mr. Bokros' academic records, university officials couldn't find any trace of it. Lajos Bokros then came up with a new explanation; he said he had received his doctorate degree in Panama.

An inquiry was made at the University of Panama, but university officials couldn't find records about Mr. Bokros's attendance. In fact, the university flatly denied that a person like Mr. Bokros has ever received a doctorate degree in the institution. The confirmation letter of the University can be seen below (click the picture to enlarge).



When Mr. Bokros has been asked to explain the contradiction, he blamed the University of Panama for losing his academic records. Also, Mr. Bokros has never accounted for his Spanish language background.

Soon after this information came to light, Edit Keri filed a lawsuit against Mr. Bokros for misleading the Parliament and the public about his academic records. Later, Ms. Keri received an official notice from the court telling her that the case was transferred to a different district court for processing. And that was the last time, Ms. Keri heard about the lawsuit.

Mr. Bokros has never responded to Ms. Keri's lawsuit; neither, he counter-sued her for false allegations.

Many years after "getting his doctorate degree in Panama", Mr. Bokros went to work for the IMF. Apparently, the IMF wasn't that fussy about his academic records. And obviously, the fact that the IMF is "having financial difficulties", has nothing to do with Mr. Bokros expertly contribution to the banking business. However, the economic situation in Hungary can tell you what happens with countries managed by experts, like Lajos Bokros.

(barikad.hu)