Nan Yang
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- May 1, 2010
- Messages
- 5,269
- Reaction score
- 1
- Country
- Location
Hungary PM Viktor Orban storms to fourth consecutive win after heated campaign
Agence France-Presse
Published: 9:39am, 4 Apr, 2022
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban waves to his supporters in Budapest on Sunday. Photo: EPA-EFE
Official results from Hungary’s general election on Sunday showed nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party had won a fourth term in office by a much greater margin than pre-election polls had suggested, after a campaign overshadowed by the war in neighbouring Ukraine.
Addressing a jubilant crowd chanting his name, many of them wearing Fidesz’s orange party colour, Orban said: “We have won a great victory – a victory so great you can perhaps see it from the moon and certainly from Brussels”.
Orban’s administration has presided over repeated confrontations with the European Union, including over the neutering of the press and judiciary, and measures targeting the LGBTQ community – also the subject of a vote on Sunday.
The 58-year-old, already the longest-serving head of government in the EU, was challenged by six united opposition parties seeking to roll back the “illiberal” revolution Orban’s Fidesz party has pursued during 12 consecutive years in office.
But with 98 per cent of votes counted, Fidesz was on 53.1 per cent compared to 35 per cent for the opposition coalition, according to results from the national election office – a result which means the party will retain its two-thirds majority in parliament.
Peter Marki-Zay, 49, the conservative leading the opposition list, addressed supporters and conceded defeat late on Sunday evening.
“I will not hide my sadness and my disappointment,” he told them, combatively accusing Fidesz of running a campaign of “hate and lies”.
He added that the opposition had done “everything humanly possible” but that the campaign had been “an unequal fight” given the way in which he and other anti-Fidesz politicians had been all but banished from state media.
MEP Marton Gyongyosi from the right-wing Jobbik party which is part of the opposition coalition, said that “abuses” had taken place on Sunday and added: “This will have to be considered when talking about how the results of the elections can be respected”.
Orban has dismissed such complaints and insisted the vote was fair.
Hungary’s opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay. Photo: AP
For the first time more than 200 international observers monitored the election in Hungary, an EU member, along with thousands of domestic volunteers from both camps.
Turnout reached 68.69 per cent, almost matching the record participation seen at the last national elections in 2018.
The far-right Mi Hazank party also surpassed expectations and will make its debut in parliament after crossing the five-percent minimum threshold.
Budapest resident Agnes Kunyik, 56, said she had backed the opposition.
“They have ruined our country, destroyed it,” she said of Fidesz, becoming visibly emotional.
Viktor Orban’s supporters listen to his election victory speech in Budapest on Sunday. Photo: Bloomberg
But one of those who had turned out for Orban’s victory celebration, 55-year-old Ildiko Horvath, said that under Fidesz “Hungary is really going forwards,” adding: “On the really important questions like the [Ukraine] war and migrants he always decides in line with what the majority wants.”
Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine cast a long shadow over the campaign.
Diplomatically, Orban fell into line with EU support for Kyiv despite his long-standing closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But at home, Orban has struck a neutral and even anti-Ukrainian tone at times, refusing to let weapons for Kyiv cross Hungarian territory.
He cast himself as the protector of stability and accused the opposition of “warmongering”.
In his victory speech Orban said: “We never had so many opponents,” reeling off a list that comprised “Brussels bureaucrats … the international mainstream media, and finally the Ukrainian president”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has singled Orban out for criticism over his reticence to take a tougher stance against Russia.
People march during the LGBT Pride Parade in Budapest. File photo: AFP
French and Italian far-right leaders Marine Le Pen and Matteo Salvini were quick to offer their congratulations on Sunday.
Le Pen, herself gathering momentum in polls before the first round of presidential elections in France next week, posted a picture of herself shaking hands with Orban and the caption: “When the people vote, the people win!”
As well as electing MPs, Hungarians were voting in a referendum designed to elicit support for what Fidesz calls a “child protection” law banning the portrayal of LGBTQ people to under-18s.
Budapest resident Regina, 25, who refused to give her surname, said she had spoiled her ballot in the “twisted” referendum which she said had portrayed LGBTQ Hungarians as an “enemy”.
Partial results showed the referendum had failed as not enough valid votes had been cast.
- Orban told his supporters ‘we have won a victory so great you can perhaps see it from the moon’ as the Fidesz party retained two-thirds majority in parliament
- The opposition accused Orban of running a campaign of ‘hate and lies’ while the far-right Mi Hazank party will make its debut in legislature
Agence France-Presse
Published: 9:39am, 4 Apr, 2022
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban waves to his supporters in Budapest on Sunday. Photo: EPA-EFE
Official results from Hungary’s general election on Sunday showed nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party had won a fourth term in office by a much greater margin than pre-election polls had suggested, after a campaign overshadowed by the war in neighbouring Ukraine.
Addressing a jubilant crowd chanting his name, many of them wearing Fidesz’s orange party colour, Orban said: “We have won a great victory – a victory so great you can perhaps see it from the moon and certainly from Brussels”.
Orban’s administration has presided over repeated confrontations with the European Union, including over the neutering of the press and judiciary, and measures targeting the LGBTQ community – also the subject of a vote on Sunday.
The 58-year-old, already the longest-serving head of government in the EU, was challenged by six united opposition parties seeking to roll back the “illiberal” revolution Orban’s Fidesz party has pursued during 12 consecutive years in office.
But with 98 per cent of votes counted, Fidesz was on 53.1 per cent compared to 35 per cent for the opposition coalition, according to results from the national election office – a result which means the party will retain its two-thirds majority in parliament.
Peter Marki-Zay, 49, the conservative leading the opposition list, addressed supporters and conceded defeat late on Sunday evening.
“I will not hide my sadness and my disappointment,” he told them, combatively accusing Fidesz of running a campaign of “hate and lies”.
He added that the opposition had done “everything humanly possible” but that the campaign had been “an unequal fight” given the way in which he and other anti-Fidesz politicians had been all but banished from state media.
MEP Marton Gyongyosi from the right-wing Jobbik party which is part of the opposition coalition, said that “abuses” had taken place on Sunday and added: “This will have to be considered when talking about how the results of the elections can be respected”.
Orban has dismissed such complaints and insisted the vote was fair.
Hungary’s opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay. Photo: AP
For the first time more than 200 international observers monitored the election in Hungary, an EU member, along with thousands of domestic volunteers from both camps.
Turnout reached 68.69 per cent, almost matching the record participation seen at the last national elections in 2018.
The far-right Mi Hazank party also surpassed expectations and will make its debut in parliament after crossing the five-percent minimum threshold.
Budapest resident Agnes Kunyik, 56, said she had backed the opposition.
“They have ruined our country, destroyed it,” she said of Fidesz, becoming visibly emotional.
Viktor Orban’s supporters listen to his election victory speech in Budapest on Sunday. Photo: Bloomberg
But one of those who had turned out for Orban’s victory celebration, 55-year-old Ildiko Horvath, said that under Fidesz “Hungary is really going forwards,” adding: “On the really important questions like the [Ukraine] war and migrants he always decides in line with what the majority wants.”
Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine cast a long shadow over the campaign.
Diplomatically, Orban fell into line with EU support for Kyiv despite his long-standing closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But at home, Orban has struck a neutral and even anti-Ukrainian tone at times, refusing to let weapons for Kyiv cross Hungarian territory.
He cast himself as the protector of stability and accused the opposition of “warmongering”.
In his victory speech Orban said: “We never had so many opponents,” reeling off a list that comprised “Brussels bureaucrats … the international mainstream media, and finally the Ukrainian president”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has singled Orban out for criticism over his reticence to take a tougher stance against Russia.
People march during the LGBT Pride Parade in Budapest. File photo: AFP
French and Italian far-right leaders Marine Le Pen and Matteo Salvini were quick to offer their congratulations on Sunday.
Le Pen, herself gathering momentum in polls before the first round of presidential elections in France next week, posted a picture of herself shaking hands with Orban and the caption: “When the people vote, the people win!”
As well as electing MPs, Hungarians were voting in a referendum designed to elicit support for what Fidesz calls a “child protection” law banning the portrayal of LGBTQ people to under-18s.
Budapest resident Regina, 25, who refused to give her surname, said she had spoiled her ballot in the “twisted” referendum which she said had portrayed LGBTQ Hungarians as an “enemy”.
Partial results showed the referendum had failed as not enough valid votes had been cast.
