Hungary's Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany has again refused to resign and has promised to fight for his policies.
In an interview published on Sunday, Mr. Gyurcsany said next week's municipal elections have nothing to do with his national government, which has been rocked by a recent scandal.
His comments came as thousands gathered in Budapest's parliament square to continue more than a week of protests. Observers say Sunday's crowd was much smaller than days before.
On Saturday, about 20,000 demonstrators gathered to protest the Hungarian leader, who has admitted to lying about the nation's economy to remain in power.
Calls for Mr. Gyurcsany to step down began after he was heard on a leaked audio tape admitting that he lied repeatedly for years about the state of the country's economy.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.