Parliamentary elections in Hungary: Orbans Fidesz with clear victory

A victory for Orban had been expected – but the clarity surprised even his own camp. The Prime Minister can probably continue to govern with a two-thirds majority.

The right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban celebrated an unexpected triumph in the parliamentary elections in Hungary. After counting 96 percent of the votes, his Fidesz party came up with 53 percent, as the electoral office announced on Monday night. She could have won 135 of the 199 parliamentary seats. Orban can probably rule for the fourth time in a row – probably with a constitution-amending two-thirds majority.

The opposition alliance “Hungary in Unity” fell far short of expectations. The merger of six parties from the left, green, liberal and right spectrum received only 35 percent of the vote and 56 seats. The opinion polls before the election had given the Fidesz party a lead of one to ten percentage points. The far-right party “Unsere Heimat” also made it into parliament with six percent of the vote and seven seats. A mandate achievable for nationalities went to the representative of the German minority, who is considered an ally of the Fidesz party. Voter turnout was almost 70 percent, about the same as four years ago.

Embassies to EU and Zelenskyy

“We won a tremendous victory,” Orban said to cheering supporters on election night. “A victory so powerful that you can even see it from the moon, but certainly from Brussels.” He was alluding to his permanent conflicts with the EU, to which his country has belonged since 2004. “Enormous international powerhouses have positioned themselves against us,” he continued. Among the numerous enemies of his nationalist policies he counted “the international left, Brussels, the international media and the Ukrainian president.” Volodymyr Zelenskyj had recently asked Orban to move away from Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and to side with Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia.

The opposition’s lead candidate, Peter Marki-Zay, conceded defeat. “It was an uneven and impossible fight, but we faced it,” he said. “We went into this fight under unequal conditions, with our legs tied, with a lance in our back, but we didn’t win.”

Voters seem happy with Orban

Marki-Zay, a non-party conservative, is mayor of the small town of Hodmezövasarhely in south-eastern Hungary. The opposition alliance had chosen him as their top candidate in primary elections they organized last fall.

Election researchers attributed the government camp’s unexpectedly clear success to the fact that the majority of voters were satisfied with the state of affairs in the country. Living conditions for many Hungarians have improved during Orban’s 12-year reign. At the same time, the head of government managed to calm people’s minds in view of the Russian war against Ukraine.

Questionable campaign

With his assertion that only he could “keep Hungary out of the war,” he betrayed his close relationship with the leadership in Moscow. He half-heartedly supported the EU’s sanctions against Russia. In turn, he accused the opposition, without presenting any evidence, of “dragging the country into the war”.

According to critics, Orban’s dominance of politics in Hungary shows authoritarian traits. He shut down independent newspapers, radio stations and Internet portals, mostly by having them bought up by oligarchs close to him. During the election campaign, only an eighth of the billboard space was allocated to the opposition compared to Fidesz advertising. In the public service media, the Orban government has been uncritically praised for twelve years, while those in the opposition are either ignored or defamed.

Hungary: Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party likely to win elections

Wolfgang Vichtl, ARD Vienna, currently Budapest, April 3, 2022 10:51 p.m