Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ruling Fidesz party was comfortably ahead of
their opposition rivals based on partial results of Sunday’s national election.
Preliminary results with 23% of national party list votes counted showed Fidesz carrying 58% of votes versus 30.4% for a six-party opposition party alliance.
Fidesz was leading in 88 constituencies versus 18 for the opposition with 50.5% of constituency votes counted.
Will voters give Orban a fourth term?
Earlier Sunday, voters were tasked with deciding whether to give Orban a fourth term in office or to throw their weight behind a new six-party opposition alliance in an election overshadowed by the war in neighboring Ukraine.
The polls took place amid accusations by opposition groups and international observers that Orban and his right-wing Fidesz party are favored by a widespread pro-government bias in the public media and heavy gerrymandering of election districts.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, however, gave the opposition United For Hungary a handhold.
Its candidate for prime minister, Peter Marki-Zay, has highlighted Orban’s close political and business relations with Moscow and called for Hungary to act in concert with EU partners on sanctions and weapons deliveries.
A survey by Zavecz Research showed Fidesz leading with 39% support against 36% for United for Hungary, while one-fifth of voters were undecided.
Opposition election posters have warned of Orban being a ‘Hungarian Putin.’
What is Orban’s stance on the Ukraine conflict?
Orban, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has stated that Hungary must remain neutral and maintain its close economic ties with Moscow, including continuing to import Russian gas and oil.
Although he has supported an EU decision to send arms to Ukraine, he has rejected allowing weapons to be shipped from Hungarian territory, saying such a move could pose a security risk.
“This isn’t our war, we have to stay out of it,” Orban said at his final campaign rally on Friday.
On Sunday, while casting his vote in the capital, Budapest, he described the election as a choice between peace and war and again accused his opponents of trying to drag Hungary into the Ukraine conflict.
Asked about his ties with Moscow and Putin, Orban replied: “I am standing on the basis of the Hungarian national interests; I am pro-Hungarian.”
What does the opposition say?
Marki-Zay has accused Orban of siding with Putin in the conflict and said the prime minister’s moves had left him isolated within the EU, with which Orban has frequently anyway been at loggerheads.
The opposition leader cast the poll as a choice between East and West, charging Orban with turning Hungary toward Russia and away from the EU where it belongs.
According to Marki-Zay, Orban has undermined democratic rights and overseen rampant government corruption in the process.
Marki-Zay says the election is a choice between East and West
Orban, who sees himself as an advocate of “illiberal democracy,” has taken control of many of his country’s democratic institutions while claiming he is defending European Christendom against Muslim migrants, progressive trends and the “LGBTQ lobby.” These attitudes have frequently brought him into conflict with the EU.
United for Hungary, for its part, has called for a new political culture based on pluralistic governance and the restoration of damaged alliances with the EU and NATO.
The opposition alliance includes the leftist Democratic Coalition, the liberal Momentum party and the Jobbik party, the latter having turned from being far-right to moderate.
mm, tj/jcg (AP, AFP)
Hungary: Orban’s ruling party leads by wide margin — partial results
Source: Pinoy Pop News
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