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Ruling Fidesz party projected to secure new supermajority
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Anti-immigrant campaign triumphed over divided opposition
Viktor Orban speaks to members of the media after casting his vote.
Photographer: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg
The victory gives Orban, 54, a third consecutive term and fourth in all after a stint as prime minister from 1998 to 2002. The strong mandate is likely to embolden policies that have edged out some foreign-owned companies and allowed a group of oligarchs take over much of the economy.
“The election result will only reinforce Orban’s policies,” said Bulcsu Hunyadi, an analyst at Political Capital in Budapest. “While some had expected a stronger showing from the opposition, Fidesz has only gotten stronger.”
Fidesz Dominance
Orban's Fidesz party set to win constitutional majority at elections
Source: Hungarian Elections Office
Holding Responsible
Orban’s victory -- based on a campaign in which he warned that Muslim immigrants would "overrun" Europe -- follows gains made by like-minded parties across the continent over the past year, including Austria’s Freedom Party and the League and the Five Star Movement in Italy. Hungary, like its other central European peers, has an almost no Muslims among its population of 10 million people.During the campaign, Orban pledged to hold opposition parties “morally, politically and legally” responsible for opposing him. That followed reports alleging government corruption that the ruling party has denied. The sources of some of those reports -- including a newspaper and news channel owned by a former Orban ally -- may be targeted, as well as non-governmental organizations such as Transparency International, Attila Tibor Nagy of the Center for Fair Political Analysis in Budapest said before the vote.
After building a fence on Hungary’s southern border to keep out refugees, Orban focused his campaign on billionaire George Soros, saying the pro-democracy campaigner led a global network working to spread immigrants to the western world. Orban’s cabinet vowed to approve a “Stop Soros” package of laws after the election. Soros rejected the accusations and his Open Society Foundation said the measure would “criminalize” civil society.
In the past four years, Hungary tumbled to 66th place in Transparency International’s annual survey of perceived corruption, the second-worst in the EU, from 48th.
Investor Support
That has done little to dissuade investors, many of whom had rooted for a slim victory by Orban. They said it would ensure policy continuity, including on fiscal discipline. On the other hand, it would deprive him of the two-third "supermajority" mandates he won in 2010 and 2014, which allowed him to change the constitution and undermine democratic institutions, often by appointing trusted allies as heads of formerly independent institutions.Turnout in the election was projected to be above 70 percent, near a record. A divided opposition said that level of participation would lift their chances. But a get-out-the vote push also pulled more people to polling stations in the countryside, where Fidesz has strong support, the results showed.
The Jobbik party came in second with 26 seats, while the Socialist-Parbeszed alliance came in third 20. While the opposition tried to capitalize on voter anger over perceived cronyism, parties failed to seal a pact to compete together on the national level, giving Fidesz the advantage in the winner-take-all district races that make up most of the parliamentary mandates.
