Quick Guide To The Upcoming Election In Hungary

According to President János Áder’s announcement, parliamentary elections in Hungary are to be held on 6 April, at the earliest possible date. With a supermajority in Hungarian legislation, the Fidesz-KDNP coalition and its landslide victory in 2010 marked a major turning point in Hungarian politics. Although 2013 saw an increase in the number of political parties and the cooperation of the left wing parties running for the elections with a joint party list was born , a recent poll suggests that support for Fidesz remains strong .

This year’s elections will be full of novelties as a result of a new law passed in 2011. Only 199 MPs (earlier: 386) will be elected in one round instead of two: 106 MPs will be chosen from individual electoral districts and 93 from national lists. The most criticised part of the law allegedly sets up electoral districts in a way that favours the governing parties. For the first time, all Hungarian citizens can vote: no registered permanent address or place of residence is required anymore, you only have to register!

The minority list was introduced to empower minorities to send representatives to Parliament. In this way, among the 93 MPs elected from national lists, there will be a few minority representatives, probably one or two. If a minority does not obtain any seats, they will have the opportunity to send a minority spokesman to the National Assembly.