The miracle ” expected by the opposition has not happened. Fidesz, the party of Hungarian nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, came out on top in the parliamentary elections held on Sunday, April 3. He won 54.24% of the vote, according to the first partial official results published by the National Electoral Bureau (NVI) based on almost 77% of the vote.
The coalition of six opposition parties gets only 33.92% of the vote. At the age of 58, the oldest incumbent leader of the European Union (EU) faced an unprecedented and disparate alliance of six parties, and analysts had predicted a much closer battle.
“Exceptional victory”
Without further ado, Viktor Orban claimed a “exceptional victory” in this vote. “We won (…) a victory so big that you can probably see it from the moon, and certainly from Brussels”said the sovereignist leader, who often has a contentious relationship with the EU, in a short speech after the publication of the partial results
The vote was marked by a turnout of 68.7%, a figure close to the record four years ago. The full official results won’t be known until the next week, after hundreds of thousands of votes from both diaspora and expatriate voters have been counted. But Viktor Orban, in power since 2010, is on his way unmolested for a fourth straight term.
His opponent Peter Marki-Zay had still not spoken at 11 p.m. Paris time. By putting his ballot paper in the ballot box with his family, this 49-year-old conservative mayor had previously “unfair and impossible conditions” focused on allowing his rival to “stay in power forever”† And to quote the public media at the boot of the government – he himself was entitled to only five minutes of airtime on public television, in total and forever.
In the opposition coalition, some, such as Jobbik’s vice president, Marto Gyongyosi, have “irregularities”† The voting took place for the first time under the supervision of more than 200 international observers. Each camp also deployed thousands of volunteers.
The war in Ukraine changed the situation
Viktor Orban, accused by Brussels of multiple attacks on the rule of law, has muzzled power, justice and the media for more than 12 years while advocating an ultra-conservative view of society. reprimand “the most corrupt government in the history of Hungary”Peter Marki-Zay had been roaming the country for the past few weeks, listening to the inhabitants, hoping the “propaganda” from the government.
The conflict in neighboring Ukraine has completely changed the situation. “War broke out and war changed everything”, Orban summed up Friday at his only campaign meeting. He pretended to be “a protector” of Hungary, which guarantees peace and stability, by refusing to supply arms to Ukraine and imposing sanctions that would rob the Hungarians of precious Russian oil and gas.
At the same time, Peter Marki-Zay was portrayed on election posters and in the pro-Orban media as: “dangerous”, accused of wanting to rush the country into war for his firm support of Ukraine. The opponent has unsuccessfully emphasized the close bond Orban has cultivated with the Russian president since 2010, calling him “Hungarian poutine”his speech was clearly not enough to convince voters.
Hungarians were also asked to answer four questions related to the recent law banning talking to people under the age of 18 “gender reassignment and homosexuality”† Referendum “unhealthy” for the NGOs who had asked voters to:“invalidate” their ballots by checking two boxes instead of one. The results are expected later in the evening.
