Hungary PM Viktor Orban wins fourth term in office
Nationalist Hungarian PM Viktor Orban's Fidesz party won a fourth term in office, after a campaign overshadowed by the war in the neighbouring Ukraine.
Agence France-Presse
Budapest April 4, 2022
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban voted at a school in a Budapest suburb and said he was expecting a 'great victory' . (Photo: AFP)
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 94 percent of votes counted, Fidesz was on 53 percent compared to 35 percent 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, told AFP 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.
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 percent, 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.
- 'Ruined the country' -
Budapest resident Agnes Kunyik, 56, told AFP she had backed the opposition.
"They have ruined our country, destroyed it," she said of Fidesz, becoming visibly emotional.
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 Ukraine 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.
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 -- told AFP 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.
ELECTORAL FASCISM
Hungary's Viktor Orban claims a 4th term, extending his autocratic rule
By The Associated Press
Published April 3, 2022
Opposition parties had united against Orban
As Fidesz party officials gathered at an election night event on the Danube river in Budapest, state secretary Zoltan Kovacs pointed to the participation of so many parties in the election as a testament to the strength of Hungary's democracy.
"We have heard a lot of nonsense recently about whether there is democracy in Hungary," Kovacs said. "Hungarian democracy in the last 12 years has not weakened, but been strengthened."
The contest was expected to be the closest since Orban took power in 2010, thanks to Hungary's six main opposition parties putting aside their ideological differences to form a united front against Fidesz. Voters were electing lawmakers to the country's 199-seat parliament.
Yet even in his home district, opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay trailed the longtime Fidesz incumbent Janos Lazar by more than 11 points, with 74% of the votes counted there. It was a discouraging sign for the prime ministerial candidate who had promised to end to what he alleges is rampant government corruption and raise living standards by increasing funding to Hungary's ailing health care and schools.
Anna Szilagyi / AP
Opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay, center left, and others vote in Sunday's general election.
In a surprise performance, radical right-wing party Our Homeland Movement appeared to have garnered more than 6% of the vote, exceeding the 5% threshold needed to gain seats in parliament.
Opposition parties and international observers have noted structural impediments to defeating Orban, highlighting pervasive pro-government bias in the public media, the domination of commercial news outlets by Orban allies and a heavily gerrymandered electoral map.
Edit Zgut, a political scientist at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, predicted that what appeared to be a clear victory for Orban would allow him to move further in an autocratic direction, sidelining dissidents and capturing new areas of the economy.
"Hungary seems to have reached a point of no return," she said. "The key lesson is that the playing field is tilted so much that it became almost impossible to replace Fidesz in elections."
The opposition coalition, United For Hungary, asked voters to support a new political culture based on pluralistic governance and mended alliances with the country's EU and NATO allies.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine was an issue in Hungary's election
While Orban had earlier campaigned on divisive social and cultural issues, he dramatically shifted the tone of his campaign after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, and has portrayed the election since then as a choice between peace and stability or war and chaos.
While the opposition called for Hungary to support its embattled neighbor and act in lockstep with its EU and NATO partners, Orban, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has insisted that Hungary remain neutral and maintain its close economic ties with Moscow, including continuing to import Russian gas and oil on favorable terms.
At his final campaign rally Friday, Orban claimed that supplying Ukraine with weapons — something that Hungary, alone among Ukraine's EU neighbors, has refused to do — would make the country a military target, and that sanctioning Russian energy imports would cripple Hungary's own economy.
"This isn't our war, we have to stay out of it," Orban said.
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Saturday depicted the Hungarian leader as out of touch with the rest of Europe, which has united to condemn Putin, support sanctions against Russia and send aid including weapons to Ukraine.
"He is virtually the only one in Europe to openly support Mr. Putin," Zelenskyy said.
After voting in his hometown of Hodmezovasarhely, where he is mayor, Marki-Zay called Sunday's election an "uphill battle" due to Fidesz's superior economic resources and advantage in the media.
"We are fighting for decency, we are fighting for the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law in Hungary," Marki-Zay said. "We want to show that this model that Orban has ... introduced here in Hungary is not acceptable for any decent, honest man."
Marki-Zay later wrote on social media to thank all Hungarians who cast a vote and the more than 20,000 volunteer ballot counters who opposition parties assigned to polling places across the country.
"I express my gratitude to the civilians who spent the whole day checking the cleanliness of the election and are now starting the count," Marki-Zay wrote.
Orban — a fierce critic of immigration, LGBTQ rights and "EU bureaucrats" — has garnered the admiration of right-wing nationalists across Europe and North America. He has taken many of Hungary's democratic institutions under his control and depicted himself as a defender of European Christendom against Muslim migrants, progressives and the "LGBTQ lobby."
Along with the election to parliament, a referendum on LGBTQ issues was being held Sunday. The questions pertained to sex education programs in schools and the availability to children of information about sex reassignment.
The Organization For Security and Cooperation in Europe sent a full observation mission to Hungary to monitor Sunday's election, only the second time it has done so in a European Union country.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
Hungary's Viktor Orban claims a 4th term, extending his autocratic rule
By The Associated Press
Published April 3, 2022
Hungary's nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, center, and his wife Aniko Levai, left, cast their vote for general election in Budapest, Hungary, on Sunday.
Updated April 3, 2022 at 6:10 PM ET
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared victory in Sunday's national elections, claiming a mandate for a fourth term as a partial vote count predicted a strong lead for his right-wing party.
In a 10-minute speech to Fidesz party officials and supporters at an election night event in Budapest, Orban addressed a crowd cheering "Viktor!" and declared it was a "huge victory" for his party.
"We won a victory so big that you can see it from the moon, and you can certainly see it from Brussels," said Orban, who has often been condemned by the European Union for democratic backsliding and alleged corruption.
"The whole world has seen tonight in Budapest that Christian democratic politics, conservative civic politics and patriotic politics have won. We are telling Europe that this is not the past, this is the future," Orban said.
While votes were still being tallied, it appeared clear that the question was not whether Orban's Fidesz party would take the election, but by how much.
With 75% of votes tallied, Orban's Fidesz-led coalition had won 54.5%, while a pro-European opposition coalition, United for Hungary, had nearly 34%, according to the National Election Office.
It appeared possible that Fidesz would win another constitutional majority, allowing it to keep making deep changes to the Central European nation.
Updated April 3, 2022 at 6:10 PM ET
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared victory in Sunday's national elections, claiming a mandate for a fourth term as a partial vote count predicted a strong lead for his right-wing party.
In a 10-minute speech to Fidesz party officials and supporters at an election night event in Budapest, Orban addressed a crowd cheering "Viktor!" and declared it was a "huge victory" for his party.
"We won a victory so big that you can see it from the moon, and you can certainly see it from Brussels," said Orban, who has often been condemned by the European Union for democratic backsliding and alleged corruption.
"The whole world has seen tonight in Budapest that Christian democratic politics, conservative civic politics and patriotic politics have won. We are telling Europe that this is not the past, this is the future," Orban said.
While votes were still being tallied, it appeared clear that the question was not whether Orban's Fidesz party would take the election, but by how much.
With 75% of votes tallied, Orban's Fidesz-led coalition had won 54.5%, while a pro-European opposition coalition, United for Hungary, had nearly 34%, according to the National Election Office.
It appeared possible that Fidesz would win another constitutional majority, allowing it to keep making deep changes to the Central European nation.
Opposition parties had united against Orban
As Fidesz party officials gathered at an election night event on the Danube river in Budapest, state secretary Zoltan Kovacs pointed to the participation of so many parties in the election as a testament to the strength of Hungary's democracy.
"We have heard a lot of nonsense recently about whether there is democracy in Hungary," Kovacs said. "Hungarian democracy in the last 12 years has not weakened, but been strengthened."
The contest was expected to be the closest since Orban took power in 2010, thanks to Hungary's six main opposition parties putting aside their ideological differences to form a united front against Fidesz. Voters were electing lawmakers to the country's 199-seat parliament.
Yet even in his home district, opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay trailed the longtime Fidesz incumbent Janos Lazar by more than 11 points, with 74% of the votes counted there. It was a discouraging sign for the prime ministerial candidate who had promised to end to what he alleges is rampant government corruption and raise living standards by increasing funding to Hungary's ailing health care and schools.
Anna Szilagyi / AP
Opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay, center left, and others vote in Sunday's general election.
In a surprise performance, radical right-wing party Our Homeland Movement appeared to have garnered more than 6% of the vote, exceeding the 5% threshold needed to gain seats in parliament.
Opposition parties and international observers have noted structural impediments to defeating Orban, highlighting pervasive pro-government bias in the public media, the domination of commercial news outlets by Orban allies and a heavily gerrymandered electoral map.
Edit Zgut, a political scientist at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, predicted that what appeared to be a clear victory for Orban would allow him to move further in an autocratic direction, sidelining dissidents and capturing new areas of the economy.
"Hungary seems to have reached a point of no return," she said. "The key lesson is that the playing field is tilted so much that it became almost impossible to replace Fidesz in elections."
The opposition coalition, United For Hungary, asked voters to support a new political culture based on pluralistic governance and mended alliances with the country's EU and NATO allies.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine was an issue in Hungary's election
While Orban had earlier campaigned on divisive social and cultural issues, he dramatically shifted the tone of his campaign after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, and has portrayed the election since then as a choice between peace and stability or war and chaos.
While the opposition called for Hungary to support its embattled neighbor and act in lockstep with its EU and NATO partners, Orban, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has insisted that Hungary remain neutral and maintain its close economic ties with Moscow, including continuing to import Russian gas and oil on favorable terms.
At his final campaign rally Friday, Orban claimed that supplying Ukraine with weapons — something that Hungary, alone among Ukraine's EU neighbors, has refused to do — would make the country a military target, and that sanctioning Russian energy imports would cripple Hungary's own economy.
"This isn't our war, we have to stay out of it," Orban said.
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Saturday depicted the Hungarian leader as out of touch with the rest of Europe, which has united to condemn Putin, support sanctions against Russia and send aid including weapons to Ukraine.
"He is virtually the only one in Europe to openly support Mr. Putin," Zelenskyy said.
After voting in his hometown of Hodmezovasarhely, where he is mayor, Marki-Zay called Sunday's election an "uphill battle" due to Fidesz's superior economic resources and advantage in the media.
"We are fighting for decency, we are fighting for the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law in Hungary," Marki-Zay said. "We want to show that this model that Orban has ... introduced here in Hungary is not acceptable for any decent, honest man."
Marki-Zay later wrote on social media to thank all Hungarians who cast a vote and the more than 20,000 volunteer ballot counters who opposition parties assigned to polling places across the country.
"I express my gratitude to the civilians who spent the whole day checking the cleanliness of the election and are now starting the count," Marki-Zay wrote.
Orban — a fierce critic of immigration, LGBTQ rights and "EU bureaucrats" — has garnered the admiration of right-wing nationalists across Europe and North America. He has taken many of Hungary's democratic institutions under his control and depicted himself as a defender of European Christendom against Muslim migrants, progressives and the "LGBTQ lobby."
Along with the election to parliament, a referendum on LGBTQ issues was being held Sunday. The questions pertained to sex education programs in schools and the availability to children of information about sex reassignment.
The Organization For Security and Cooperation in Europe sent a full observation mission to Hungary to monitor Sunday's election, only the second time it has done so in a European Union country.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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