EP Elections – Low Turnout Signals Strong Criticism, Analysts Say

(MTI) – Low turnout in this year’s European parliamentary elections signals strong criticism of the European institutions, Agoston Samuel Mraz, senior analyst of Nezopont, told public television on Sunday evening.

“A very low proportion of eligible voters turned out for the ballot in the countries where participation is not compulsory.”

“The campaign lacked pep and the electorate did not feel that anything was at stake,” he said.

Commenting the low turnout in Hungary — by 6.30pm just 27.64 percent of voters had cast their ballots — Mraz said the April general election had taken the wind out of the sails of voters.

Zoltan Galik, a senior analyst of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs, attributed voter apathy to widespread disappointment in European crisis management.

The EU failed to give rapid and appropriate answers to the economic crisis lasting since 2008.

“Europe has been paralysed for a long time and economic growth has yet to restart,” he said. It could also be argued that the electorate rejected the answers the EU has given to key issues, Galik added.

Photo: Lajos Soos

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters