April general election “efficiently edministered” but several shortcomings – OSCE

(MTI) – Hungary’s April 6 general election was “efficiently administered” and offered voters a “diverse choice”, the OSCE said in a report on its election observation mission.

But the ruling Fidesz party enjoyed an “undue advantage” due to “restrictive” campaign rules and “biased media coverage”, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said, commenting on a limited observation mission carried out by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.

A number of key amendments adopted had negative effects on the electoral process, including removal of some checks and balances, the report seen by MTI on Saturday said.

“Significant elements of the electoral system were altered, including provisions for the surplus votes of winning candidates in each constituency to be transferred to parties participating in the national, proportional contest. This change itself resulted in an additional six seats being allocated to the alliance of Fidesz,” the report said.

At the same time, the OSCE noted that the candidate registration process was “inclusive” and the national election committee “registered 18 party and joint party lists with a total of 1,607 candidates, including 378 women, for the 93 seats distributed through a nationwide proportional system.”

The leftist opposition Socialists said the OSCE’s report provided evidence “on paper” that Fidesz’s two-thirds majority in parliament was not legitimate. The lack of fair elections overshadows the whole legislative cycle, the Socialists said in a statement on Saturday.

The opposition E-PM party alliance said it would submit amendments to election laws after the local elections in the autumn. These will be drawn up “point by point” based on the OSCE’s report and on experiences of the local election, the party said in a statement.

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Source: MTI