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.
Instead of nomination slips, signatures are collected.
There will be no pause in election campaigns anymore.
The major challenger of the coalition government will be the recently founded left wing electoral alliance often referred to as ‘Unity’ (Hungarian Socialist Party, Together – PM Alliance, Democratic Coalition, Liberals and Dialogue for Hungary) led by Attila Mesterhazy. The other challenger is Gabor Vona, Jobbik’s prime minister candidate.
The ruling parties are supported by 38%, the Tárki survey published yesterday in Hungary Matters (MTI) reports. “Parties of the leftist Unity alliance enjoy a combined 21%, unchanged from January. The radical nationalist Jobbik party has also increased its support from 8 percent to 15. Four percent said they preferred the opposition LMP party (up from 1 percent in January). Among decided voters, 49 percent voiced support for Fidesz (unchanged), and 27 percent for Unity, down 8 percent from January. In this group, 14 percent supported Jobbik in January, and 19 in February. LMP has also increased their voter base from 2 percent to 6”, MTI said.
Written by Magdolna Magonyi
Photo: www.budaorsiinfo.hu
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