World Notes HUNGARY

Once hailed as the most liberal Communist leader in Eastern Europe, Janos Kadar has become a political pariah in his own country. Following his ouster as General Secretary last May after almost 32 years in power, Kadar, 76, remained party president. Last week Kadar was stripped of the largely ceremonial job and expelled from the Central Committee.

Party officials cited Kadar's poor health as the reason for his removal, but some Western and Hungarian political analysts speculate that the government wanted him out of the way before it rehabilitated the reputation of Imre Nagy, Prime Minister of Hungary at the time of the 1956 Hungarian uprising. Kadar is said to have given evidence at the trial of Nagy, who was hanged for treason. Others say that the party, by breaking with "Kadarism," wished to underline its pro-reform stance.

"In my political work, I probably committed errors," wrote Kadar in a letter to the party's Central Committee after his removal. "But all my actions were dictated by good intentions."