election
Orbán ‘winner’ of epidemic – Poll
The number of Hungarians awarding Prime Minister Viktor Orbán high marks has grown thanks to his handling of the novel coronavirus epidemic, polling firm Nezopont Institute said.
The proportion of those satisfied with Viktor Orbán’s performance has clearly increased as a result of his management of the coronavirus epidemic, and currently 62 percent of Hungarian society are satisfied with how the Prime Minister has handled the situation, reveals a public opinion poll conducted by Nézőpont Intézet. The Prime Minister’s popularity index has improved significantly in comparison to previous years and even early this year.
While in previous years about half of the Hungarians (50 and 52 percent, respectively), were satisfied with the Prime Minister’s performance, this time around almost two-thirds of the respondents feel this way.
The Prime Minister has clearly benefited politically from effective action against the coronavirus. While in 2018 and 2019 satisfaction with the Prime Minister’s performance was around 50 percent on an annual average (50 and 52 percent, respectively), Viktor Orbán had improved the same indicator as early as the beginning of the year (54 percent). The opinion poll conducted last week shows that currently 6 out of 10 people are behind the head of government (62 percent). The proportion of those dissatisfied with Viktor Orbán’s performance currently makes up less than a third of society. This may be due to the fact that Hungary’s swift and decisive emergency response during the coronavirus epidemic has produced better results in comparison to Western European countries.
The camp of those satisfied with Viktor Orbán is even larger than that of governing party sympathizers, whom the May survey results of Nézőpont Intézet show to be 42 percent of the total population.
The 2022 parliamentary elections will be much more about the prime ministerial candidates as personalities rather than the popularity of their respective parties.
Thus the opposition will have two obstacles to overcome on the way to victory.
Finding a joint prime ministerial candidate will be the first task, however, at this stage it is safer to bet who would not become Viktor Orbán’s counter-candidate rather than who would. As the second task, the opposition must convince the public that their joint candidate would govern the country better than the incumbent prime minister. Viktor Orbán’s outstanding popularity resulting from recent events will turn this into a particularly big challenge for the opposition.
Methodology
The public opinion poll was conducted by Nézőpont Intézet between 24-26 June 2020 based on telephone interviews with 1,000 respondents. The sample is representative of the 18+ population by geneder, age, region, settlement type and level of education. A sample of 1,000 at 95 percent accuracy has a margin of error of 3.16 percent.
Poland resumes delayed presidential election
Polling stations have opened on Sunday morning for the first round of the Polish presidential elections, which were expected to take place on May 10 but were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Incumbent Polish President Andrzej Duda from the ruling conservative Law and Justice party seeks re-election for another five-year term after his victory in the elections of 2015.
Read alsoTrump says “probably” sending U.S. troops from Germany to Poland
Polls showed that his main rival is Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, a moderately liberal Christian democrat who entered the race rather late to replace Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska, after the party’s original candidate tanked in opinion polls.
There are a total of 11 candidates in the elections, including a Christian conservative celebrity journalist, an agrarian-focused social conservative, a far-right nationalist, a social democrat and several others.
Polls showed that Duda is taking the lead but unlikely to top 50 percent of the votes needed to win the presidency. The winner of the first round will compete with the runner-up in a runoff scheduled on July 12.
Read alsoPoland resumes EU passenger air service, COVID-19 cases top 30,000
Law and Justice, led by party chairman Jaroslaw Kaczynski, wanted the elections to go ahead by postal voting only amid favorable polling, despite strong opposition from the public.
Critics argued that elections during lockdowns favor the incumbent, since other candidates are unable to hold on-the-ground campaigns, and put voters’ health at risk.
The polls close at 9 p.m. local time (1900 GMT).
Jobbik MEP Gyöngyösi: The Serbian Elections and its Lessons
Parliamentary elections held in Serbia last weekend did not hold too many surprises for those familiar with recent political developments in the small Balkan republic. In an election originally announced for 26 April but postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic, Alaksandar Vučić’s populist right-wing Serbia Progressive Party (SNS) snatched over 60 percent of the vote and some 190 mandates in the 250-seat Skupština, the Serbian parliament.
According to Jobbik MEP Márton Gyöngyösi, the dominance of SNS is further underlined by the fact that virtually all real opposition parties dropped out of parliament regardless of parliamentary threshold cut down to 3 percent prior to the elections.
Read alsoSerbia election: Vojvodina Hungarians scored a historic success, Orbán congratulates President Vucic
Ivica Dačić’s Socialist Party scoring second place with just over 10 percent of the vote functions more like a satellite organization in a permanent governing coalition with the SNS. Thus, the strongest and only opposition party in the Serbian parliament will be the novel formation of Aleksandar Šapić, barely scraping through the threshold.
Among the main reasons for the poor showing of the Serbian opposition is the nature and the character of the regime constructed by Vučić over the years.
However, also the self-delusive tactics of the opposition parties to boycott the elections and its hopes to challenge an increasingly dictatorial system by means of passive resistance have proven vain.
The Serbian elections, including the misguided tactics of the opposition are replete with lessons that must be closely studied by those that want to see an end to illiberal political experimenting.
For years analysts have been drawing comparisons between the authoritarian system of Vučić and that of Viktor Orbán in its immediate neighbourhood, Hungary – explains Gyöngyösi.
Considering the turbulent history of the region, the context in which Orbán and Vučić rose to power is different.
The hairpin bends along their political career to arrive at populist illiberalism are the first striking similarity: while Orbán started his political carrier as an ultra-liberal anti-Communist as a Soros-scholar, Vučić came on the scene as an aid to one of the great mass murderers of the late-20th century, Slobodan Milošević, serving as his propaganda minister. Like in Hungary, in Vučić’s Serbia party loyalty is the only key to success, media freedom curtailed, opposition parties threatened (in Serbia sometimes killed), corruption rampant, while an ever increasing mass of the young generations leave their homeland, either because it is not able to or willing to play by the rules of the regime.
Read alsoSerbia’s ruling coalition achieves record election victory – preliminary results
And just like Orbán, Vučić also turned his country into a favourite of foreign investors that consider stable political systems as a „one-stop shop” that dish out licences, state subsidies, keep labour costs low, labour laws flexible and trade unions under control.
Finally, just like Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz, SNS is also a member of, albeit only associated, the European Peoples’ Party (EPP).
In years, the EPP could not resolve the dilemma of safeguarding democratic values by booting authoritarian Orbán from its ranks and retaining a politically successful member to retain its relative political influence. Hardly surprising that EPP and its president Donald Tusk was among the first to jubilantly congratulate Vučić after his re-election.
Hence, when it comes to drawing the necessary lessons from the Serbian elections, the first should be one that Central-Eastern European countries ought to have learned by now throughout their history: despite the talk about democratic values in Europe, business interests and geopolitical considerations prevail.
Gyöngyösi adds that we can only count on ourselves in defence of democratic social progress.
This is why giving up without fighting and boycotting elections is not an option. Democratic opposition of every ideological sorts must unite in reinstituting rule of law and democratic pluralism in a region where illiberal populism highjacked our transition process half way through. The lessons must be learned quick and rehearsed well prior to critical elections approaching in other countries of the region.
Serbia election: Vojvodina Hungarians scored a historic success, Orbán congratulates President Vucic
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has congratulated Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on his SNS party’s “historic victory” at Serbia’s parliamentary and local elections held at the weekend.
According to information from the PM’s press office, Orbán said in a letter that
Serbia, together with countries in the central European region, is “ready to be among winners of the next decade”.
Orbán added that he was convinced that Serbia could become a European Union member by the end of the next four-year parliamentary cycle.
Hungary will continue in its commitment to further developing bilateral ties and deepening its strategic partnership with Serbia, Orbán said.
VMSZ election victory ‘message to nation’
The ethnic Hungarian VMSZ party’s victory at the general elections of Serbia this weekend “is a message to the whole of the nation”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a letter congratulating VMSZ head István Pásztor.
Orbán welcomed the results, saying that
Vojvodina (Vajdaság) Hungarians showed that they “believe in the power of unity and have the strength to shape their own life”,
the PM’s press office quoted him as saying.
VMSZ has turned out to be Vojvodina’s third strongest party, the letter said, and suggested that the community could double their seats in the Serbian parliament as a result of “hard and persistent work in recent year”, the letter said.
Vojvodina Hungarians scored ‘historic success’ at elections
The Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (VMSZ) scored a “historic success” at the elections in Serbia over the weekend, the state secretary in charge of ethnic Hungarian communities abroad said.
VMSZ scored better results on Sunday than at any previous elections, Árpád János Potapi said.
The party garnered nearly 70,000 votes and rather than the previous four, it is expected to have nine representatives in the republic’s parliament, he added.
The 2011 census showed that some 250,000 ethnic Hungarians live in Vojvodina.
Potápi congratulated VMSZ which he said had been strengthened by its leader István Pásztor in recent years, making it into a political party that can keep together all ethnic Hungarians in Vojvodina.
Serbia’s ruling coalition achieves record election victory – preliminary results
Coalition around the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) led by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic achieved a landslide victory at the parliamentary elections on Sunday, according to the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK).
Preliminary results of the RIK showed that the coalition around the SNS won 63.35 percent of votes, while smaller ruling coalition partner Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) led by Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic collected another 10.62 percent.
“I have been in politics for a long time, but I have never experienced a moment like this. We have gained the huge trust of the people, the greatest ever in Serbia, in conditions when few believed in it,” Vucic said at his party’s headquarters, warning that they need to be even more responsible, serious and diligent.
He pointed out that Serbia will continue even harder to pursue its aspiration to become a member of the European Union, “but also maintain its friendship with traditional allies and countries that stepped in to help amidst the COVID-19 crisis.”
CeSID, an independent election monitoring organization, estimated that the turnout was at 47.7 percent.
After preliminary results were published, Dacic said at the SPS headquarters that his party is ready to continue cooperating with the SNS in realizing Serbia’s national interests.
He stressed that the ruling SNS-SPS coalition that has been in power since 2012 won around 75 percent of votes today, which confirmed their achievements in the previous period.
The RIK is obliged by law to declare final results in 96 hours after the closure of polling stations.
Serbia’s elections – FM Szijjártó in Belgrade: Serbia, Hungary should cooperate on rebooting economies
Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, in Belgrade on Wednesday, said the time had come take action to reboot their respective economies, and both Serbia and Hungary could successfully do so by working closely together.
At a joint press conference with his Serbian counterpart, Szijjártó said the epidemic had highlighted how much East-West infrastructure passed through Serbia and Hungary. “We should benefit from that, so the coming months and years will be about major joint infrastructure developments.”
Szijjártó said
the pandemic had proven “more clearly than ever that we Hungarians and Serbs are closely interdependent … this relationship has strengthened during the pandemic”.
The border between the two countries was reopened in record speed, he said, adding that Serbia was the first country Hungary was able to open its border with in full and the first non-EU country to open a border with an EU member state.
Szijjártó noted that both countries are working together to upgrade the Belgrade-Budapest rail line, to renovate the Subotica-Szeged rail line and to build a new gas pipeline to transport gas from the Turkish Stream pipeline from the south to central Europe, with capacity to be expanded to almost 10 billion cubic meters in the coming years.
Meanwhile, the minister said
Hungary benefited from a strong Serbia, partly in light of ethnic Hungarians living in Vojvodina and also “because our economies are closely interlinked”.
He noted that the Hungarian government has provided 9.1 billion forints in support for nine investments in Serbia by Hungarian firms in the areas of agriculture, food processing and construction. Another 25 billion forints will be available for Hungarian companies to bid for from Friday, he added.
On the topic of Serbia’s elections on Sunday, he said Hungary would not interfere in the ballot, but the current Serbian governing coalition was in the country’s interest “because the party representing Hungarians in Vojvodina are part of the governing coalition … and we hope [they] will have the chance to participate in important decision-making regarding Serbia’s future, and also because relations between Hungary and Serbia have turned into a historic friendship”.
Ivica Dacic thanked Hungary for its support in the course of its European integration endeavours and during the coronavirus epidemic. He said Szijjártó had persistently been the strongest advocate of Serbian European integration. Relations between Serbia and Hungary, he said, were “outstanding”, and the Serbian government also maintained very good relations with “the most important party of Vojvodina Hungarians”, the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians.
Orbán: End of hostilities between Hungarians and Serbs had been a significant step forward – Interview
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in an interview with Subotica (Szabadka) broadcaster Pannon RTV on Tuesday, urged ethnic Hungarians living in Serbia’s Vojvodina region (Délvidék or Vajdaság) to vote in the country’s elections this coming weekend.
The fate of Hungarians is influenced by all elections, including the one about to take place in Serbia, the prime minister said.
The composition of the government in Hungary has an effect on all Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin,
Orbán said, adding that it was also important for Hungarians beyond the border to elect the right leaders so that they could protect Hungarian interests. “So all elections are important,” Orbán said.
“One disadvantage Hungarians have is that we don’t have relatives; we’re a cultural and linguistic island in the middle of Europe,” the prime minister said. He added that his government’s mission was to preserve Hungarian culture.
As regards the elections in Serbia, Orbán said the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (VMSZ) was the only ethnic Hungarian party that had the experience, history and prestige that could be taken seriously. VMSZ has what it takes to unify the Hungarian community, he said, adding that István Pásztor, the party’s leader, had kept all his promises and fulfilled his end of every agreement with the Hungarian government.
“So we have good reason to believe that as long as he’s the leader of the Hungarian community in Vojvodina, the relationship between the Hungarian government and Serbia’s Hungarian community will be based on trust,” the prime minister said.
Orbán also said the election will also have a fundamental impact on Hungarian-Serbian ties.
Because of the history between the two countries, Hungary and Serbia need goodwill, trust and friendship to see each other as friends and allies, he said, adding that Serbia’s current government agreed with these sentiments.
He said the end of hostilities between Hungarians and Serbs in Vojvodina had been a significant step forward for the two communities.
He added, at the same time, that there was more potential to establish more companies and create more wealth in the region.
The prime minister said it was important for Hungarians and Serbians to benefit from the good political relations between the two countries.
Budapest should not limit its focus to Vojvodina, he said, adding that it must consider all of Serbia. Accordingly, Hungarian capital must not stop at Vojvodina but should strive to create more and more Serbian-Hungarian joint ventures in all parts of the country, he said. “We need a strong Serbian economy because the stronger our neighbours, the more we will benefit.”
On another subject, Orbán said he believed
the European Union needed Serbia more than Serbia needed the EU.
He said that by having been the first EU member state to reopen its borders with Serbia, Hungary could also contribute to the country’s European integration. The prime minister said Serbia was of key importance to the EU in terms of security. “Europe’s security cannot be guaranteed without Serbia,” Orbán said.
Concerning the upgrade of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line, Orbán said work along the Hungarian section was progressing a bit slower than it should.
He added that the two countries could use a few more similar projects that could prove that Serbians and Hungarians could work together. These would also prove to the EU that Serbia is capable of carrying out such projects and that it is important to involve the country in them, Orbán argued, adding that Hungary is in continuous talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic about the opportunities available, for instance, in the energy sector.
The prime minister also said that whereas before 2010, Hungary, as the motherland, had “acted as a stepmother, it now acts as a mother”.
He promised Vojvodina Hungarians that they could continue to count on Hungary as a “real motherland” in the future, as well.
Read alsoVast majority of Hungarians believe Trianon Treaty was ‘unjust, excessive’ – survey
Poland to hold presidential elections on June 28
Poland will hold its presidential elections on June 28, with a run-off round two weeks later, Elzbieta Witek, speaker of the Polish Sejm (lower house of parliament), announced on Wednesday.
Witek said during a press conference that she had received no objections from the National Electoral Commission (PKW) against the proposed election date, and hoped that the election campaign will be fair and that all election activities will be carried out efficiently.
The elections, which were originally scheduled for May 10, did not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown.
The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party was eager to let the voting go ahead by mail on the back of favorable polling numbers for incumbent President Andrzej Duda. A conflict with a minor coalition party, however, led to the delay.
Duda, a former MEP for the right-wing PiS, was polled to have over 50 percent support during the pandemic, while other candidates were unable to campaign on the ground due to the lockdown.
A support rate of over 50 percent could normally hand him a second term without the need for a run-off election with any viable runner-up candidates.
However, poll results have tightened since, showing currently that Duda is heading for a second-round neck-and-neck contest. His main rival, polls show, is Mayor of Warsaw Rafal Trzaskowski, who is endorsed by the main opposition party Civic Platform.
Trzaskowski replaced Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska on May 15, after the party’s original candidate tanked in opinion polls.
The newly announced elections will be held traditionally with optional postal voting.
The PKW can, at the request of the country’s health minister, mandate postal-only voting in districts where COVID-19 could cause health concerns.
Poland is one of the few countries in Europe where the curve of the pandemic has not been flattened. The Health Ministry confirmed by Wednesday a total of 24,545 COVID-19 cases in the country, with the death toll standing at 1,102.
Poll: Biden holds 11-point lead over Trump
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is currently holding a 11-point lead over sitting President Donald Trump in this year’s race for the White House, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday.
Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, leads Trump 50 to 39 percent in a head-to-head matchup in the U.S. presidential election, the poll showed. That’s up from the 49 – 41 percent lead Biden held in April’s poll, but the change is within the margin of error.
Read alsoObama endorses Biden for U.S. president
Among the registered voters, Democrats go to Biden 88 – 5 percent; Republicans go to Trump 87 – 8 percent; and independents go to Biden 47 – 36 percent.
“What does the 11 point Biden lead tell us? At best for Team Trump, it says voter confidence in President Trump is shaky. At worst for them, as coronavirus cases rise, Trump’s judgement is questioned – and November looms,” Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy said.
Trump’s job approval rating ticks lower amid the coronavirus outbreak, according to the poll.
Forty-two percent of voters approve of the job he is doing, while 53 percent disapprove. That’s compared to a 45 – 51 percent job approval rating he received in April, his highest ever.
Read alsoTrump fires back after Obama swipes at his coronavirus response
On Trump’s response to public health crisis, 41 percent of voters responding to the poll approve while 56 percent disapprove. That is down from a 46 – 51 percent approval rating in April.
Besides, 50 percent approve of Trump’s handling of the economy while 47 percent disapprove, compared to a 51 – 44 percent approval in April.
The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,323 self-identified registered voters by phone from May 14 to 18. It has a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points.
MLSZ President Csányi elected for new five-year term
The Hungarian Football Federation’s annual general meeting was held on the date originally planned but online rather than in person, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Press release – UEFA delegate Jozef Kliment, who – as Head of National Associations Development in UEFA’s National Associations Division – is responsible for the development of national associations, also joined the meeting. Kliment emphasised in his address that Hungary is the first nation to hold its AGM online and is therefore an outstanding example to others in terms of how problems can be solved and how we can ensure the continuation of business life.
“UEFA, in close cooperation with its member nations, has been working on some plans depending on how and when we can pay football again. Currently, everyone needs to focus on trying to complete their domestic leagues,” Kliment said. “During the presidency of Dr Sándor Csányi in your (Hungary’s) association, significant success has been reached in boosting the quality of Hungarian football and in every area of the game, starting with the infrastructure, youth education, responsible leadership and financial stability all the way through to the future growth strategies“.
Before discussion of the meeting agenda got underway, Dr Csányi summarised the achievements since he first became MLSZ president in 2010, a list which included, amongst others, the development of futsal as a sport distinct to football, the increase in numbers of women’s footballers and of youth teams competing in tournaments, a greater understanding of the situation surrounding youth development thanks to Double Pass (a talent development system) and qualification of the men’s national team to UEFA EURO 2016 in France.
Csányi ended by saying:
“I trust that football in Hungary and abroad will restart as soon as possible and that soon it will be possible to fill the football stadium tribunes again“.
Following this, those participating approved the federation’s technical and simplified financial report and plan, and then unanimously elected Sándor Csányi as MLSZ president for another five years. After a vote to decide
the next membership of MLSZ’s executive committee, the confirmed list of those members is as follows: Dr Anthony Radev, Dr Gábor Török, Gabriella Balogh, Erik Bánki, Sándor Berzi, Béla Dankó, István Garancsi and Tibor Nyilasi.
UEFA representative Jozef Kliment’s address in English (from 1:55):
Read alsoHungarian footballer one of the most sought-after players in Europe
Trump tackles COVID-19 as clock ticks toward elections
U.S. President Donald Trump is taking massive action to tackle the COVID-19 crisis as the clock is ticking toward November, and experts say the elections will be a referendum on Trump’s ability to both fight the virus and to deal with its damage to the economy.
“Trump isn’t running against Joe Biden. He’s running against the coronavirus,” Republican Strategist and TV news personality Ford O’Connell told Xinhua.
Christopher Galdieri, assistant professor at Saint Anselm College, echoed one of those thoughts.
“I really do think this is going to be a referendum on how Trump is handling this more than anything else,” he told Xinhua.
Trump not only has to contain the spread of the virus, but needs to make sure it does not “kill” the U.S. economy, as businesses are shutting down, and retail and restaurant workers are being told to stay home. All of these could do major damage to the retail, home building and restaurant sectors, not to mention U.S. markets, and the damage could spill over into other industries.
The White House is scrambling to take action.
The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency is distributing over 8 million N95 respirator masks and millions of face masks, and a massive U.S. Naval hospital ship will deploy to New York City — the epicenter of the virus. Trump last week signed a law to allow millions of facial masks used for industrial purposes to be used at hospitals, and the White House is pushing companies to come up with a vaccine as soon as possible.
On the economic front, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged over 2,000 points Tuesday on hopes that a massive coronavirus rescue package would soon pass.
The total package comes to 6 trillion U.S. dollars — the biggest in U.S. history, top White House economic aide Larry Kudlow said Tuesday in a press briefing.
But ultimately, the outcome in terms of unemployment and people’s financial situations remains unknown. While some economists predict a sharp decline and later an equally sharp rebound, others remain unsure.
“Unemployment is going to rise sharply in the coming months, so that will be a challenge for Trump’s re-election.
When conditions deteriorate, voters get more negative about presidents,” Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.
“If we’re still locked down and getting conflicting advice from state and federal officials and unemployment is at 30 percent, it’s tough to see him winning,” said Galdieri.
Budapest mayor: Opposition should stay focused on future
Hungary’s opposition parties can only be successful in the next general election if they stay focused on the future, rather than “trying to return to the pre-2010 world”, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony said on Sunday.
“The opposition shouldn’t be competing in who hates [Prime Minister] Viktor Orbán more or how many likes they get when they lure away another party’s politician,” Karácsony, the co-leader of liberal Párbeszéd told an event focused on green policy.
The opposition would attract more votes if it were capable of presenting a worldview of its own, the mayor said, adding, at the same time, that voters today were only capable of retaining the government’s messaging.
“They can barely say anything about the kind of world the opposition would strive to create if it came into power,” he said.
- The Economist discusses the plight of Hungary’s opposition
- Former PM Gyurcsány: Opposition will win if it joins together
Karácsony said this meant that the opposition had to be responsible when shaping and implementing policy measures. Since there are three million Hungarians living in municipalities governed by the opposition, he said, the parties had an opportunity to enact policies but were also faced with the possibility of failure.
Karácsony said the opposition had to offer “responsible, 21st-century green and left-wing policies”.
He said the opposition should conduct primaries before they put together their 2022 candidate list, arguing that last year’s local elections had shown that an election victory required collaboration with civil groups and local organisations.
Tímea Szabó, Párbeszéd’s other co-leader, said the difference between true green parties and “those who only brandish themselves as green” was that “real greens” were ready to spend to meet the needs of the people.
Independent lawmaker Bernadett Szél said climate change would create “a new order” in Hungarian politics.
“National populism has no answer to the real problems and does nothing but leech off of people’s poverty,” she said.
Democratic presidential contender Warren drops out of 2020 race
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, campaigning as a progressive Democrat, said Thursday that she is dropping out of 2020 U.S. presidential race.
“I want you to hear it straight from me: today, I’m suspending our campaign for president,” Warren said in a call to her campaign staff Thursday morning.
Read alsoDemocratic presidential contender Warren drops out of 2020 race
The announcement came two days after Democratic primary’s “Super Tuesday,” in which Warren won no states.
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden won 10 of 14 states voting on Tuesday. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont finished second by wining the other four.
Warren is expected to speak to reporters later in the day. It remains unclear whom she will endorse.
Read alsoDemocratic would-be presidential nominee Bernie Sanders likes the Hungarian healthcare system
Senator Amy Klobuchar, who ended her presidential campaign shortly before Super Tuesday to support Biden, on Thursday called Warren “an inspiration to women across the country.”
“I look forward to continuing to work with her in the Senate and beyond,” tweeted Klobuchar.
A 70-year-old former Harvard University law professor, Warren announced her White House bid in February 2019 and once led in some national polls.
LMP: No decision yet on joint opposition list for 2022
Hungary’s opposition parties are agreed that a single candidate should run against the ruling parties in each constituency in the 2022 general election, but whether they do so on a joint list would depend on the individual programme of each party, Erzsébet Schmuck, LMP’s co-leader, said on Tuesday.
The opposition faces two challenges: overthrowing the government and preparing a programme that results in a fairer and more sustainable society, she told a press conference.
A joint opposition list will be possible if the parties can agree on a joint programme, she said.
“This will not be simple because answers must be provided to unprecedented challenges, such as climate change,” she added.
Threats include desertification, draught and the loss of natural values, she said. At the same time, there is growing demand to put an end to policies that result in social injustice and a democratic deficit, she added.
LMP is preparing a comprehensive green programme which will be ready by the summer. This involves setting up an environment ministry, she said.
Netanyahu secures solid victory in third Israeli elections in one year
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secured a solid victory in the parliamentary elections held on Monday.
“Thank you,” he tweeted minutes after the exit polls were published.
With 37 seats in the exit polls, the Likud took the lead against its main rival Blue and White party led by political new-comer Benny Gantz.
However, in order to form a government, Netanyahu needs a 61-seat majority of the 120 seats in the parliament.
Exit polls showed he is one seat shy of this, leading the right-wing bloc with 60 seats. Any shift in the official results, expected in the coming days, has the potential of changing the picture completely.
“This shows the Israeli society is largely right-wing and that Blue and White did not succeed in creating an alternative,” said Eran Vigoda-Gadot, a professor of political science and governance at the University of Haifa.
“Gantz did not successfully position himself as counter-weight to a very dominant Netanyahu,” he added.
It was the third general election held in Israel within one year, after two previous ones yielded inconclusive results, causing a year-long political stalemate.
“The right wing in Israel rallied and came to the polls because they felt it was all or nothing,” Vigoda-Gadot told Xinhua.
Voter turnout was unexpectedly high, in contrast with the projected voter fatigue as Israelis headed to the polls for the third time. According to the Central Elections Committee, it was the highest turnout numbers in Israel since 1999.
As Israel’s longest serving prime minister, Netanyahu’s last few years in office have been marred by scandal and alleged corruption. In two weeks’ time, he will make his first court appearance as a defendant indicted for fraud, breach of trust and bribery.
Netanyahu’s opponents say he wants to use his service as prime minister to avoid a conviction in the courts as he may find other legal ways to circumvent the courts if secures a majority in the parliament.
It is worth noting that although it is still unclear whether Netanyahu will be able to seize the majority, chances for another election seem slim.
“There will not be a fourth election, as Netanyahu will probably be able to find one person to form a government,” said Jonathan Rynhold, a professor with the political science department at the Bar Ilan University.
Still hanging in the balance is Avigdor Lieberman, the kingmaker who has not committed his seats to any side, as exit polls show he gained 6-8 seats.
Once Netanyahu’s ally and a staunch right-winger, Lieberman has taken a turn to the center by saying he refuses to sit with Jewish Orthodox parties that are Netanyahu’s main allies.
Official final results are expected to be released early Tuesday morning, before President Reuven Rivlin will choose a candidate for prime minister according to the number of recommendations from the party leaders.
This is usually bestowed upon the head of the largest party who has six weeks to form a coalition.
If the candidate is unsuccessful, another candidate will have 28 days to attempt to form a government. Should that fail, Israel will head to elections once again.
Former PM Gyurcsány: Opposition will win if it joins together
The opposition parties will win the general election in 2022 if they join together, Ferenc Gyurcsány, leader of the Democratic Coalition (DK), said at a party congress on Sunday.
A recent online survey shows that 93 percent of 108,000 respondents said the opposition should work together, with a single candidate for prime minister and a joint list and candidates in all individual constituencies, the leftist leader said.
The former prime minister said the outcome of the local elections was proof that opposition cooperation worked. Opposition figures in cities and their districts should not fear debate, he said, adding that the opposition is diverse but if they run cities effectively they will run the country effectively, too.
Learning the art of compromise now will serve the opposition in 2022, too, he said.
Read alsoThe Economist discusses the plight of Hungary’s opposition
Meanwhile, Gyurcsány said the Fidesz-led government had failed to secure a majority for “dismantling” the European Union. He also said the “regime” that has run Hungary for the past ten years was showing signs of cracking.
At the same time, the decks on the opposition side have been reshuffled, with one-time larger parties losing their influence and smaller parties now coming to the fore.
He insisted that DK was now the largest party in opposition. But the common will to refashion Hungary into a European republic and a democracy would be the true driving force of the opposition, he added.
Read alsoFormer PM Gyurcsány: Opposition either wins together or not at all
On the topic of the new virus, he said international cooperation and effective local action were needed but, he insisted, the Hungarian government fell short and many citizens had lost confidence that the government was able to handle the issue.
He said more money should be spent on protective measures and less on state propaganda.
Regarding climate protection, Gyurcsány accused Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of lacking sincerity on the issue, and he called for an environment and climate protection ministry to be set up.
Slovenian president nominates Janez Jansa as candidate for PM
Slovenian President Borut Pahor has nominated Janez Jansa, leader of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) as candidate for prime minister after four parties had reached an agreement on forming a center-right coalition.
Pahor said he was glad the period of political uncertainty was so short following the resignation of Marjan Sarec as prime minister in late January, the Slovenian Press Agency reported on Wednesday.
He called on the political stakeholders to engage in dialogue and refrain from excluding anyone, while pledging to work together with the government in his capacity as president.
“I want this cooperation to be constructive and for the benefit of our country and all the people,” he said.
Jansa said the coalition agreement showed that the four parties were willing to seek compromise solutions and would work to tackle the most pressing issues that Slovenia faces. However, he also acknowledged that it was impossible to achieve everything that had to be done in the two and a half years until the next scheduled election.
The SDS, the Modern Centre Party (SMC), the New Slovenia party (NSi) and the Democratic Party of Pensioners (DeSUS) have reached an agreement on forming a coalition,
the head of the SDS Deputy Group, Danijel Krivec, said on Tuesday. The four parties can count on a slim but comfortable majority in the parliament, which has to vote on Jansa’s nomination in seven days at the latest.
Former Prime Minister Sarec resigned and called for new elections on Jan. 27.
He said his minority government could not push through important legislation.
Shocking! Hungarians do not trust the fairness of their elections
Hungarians are extremely distrustful of domestic elections. According to an international survey, 42% of Hungarians that participated in the poll said that they do not trust elections and the nature of their outcome, hvg writes.
The data comes from an international poll that Gallup conducted. Gallup asked the residents of 32 countries about whether they trust or question the purity of their domestic elections. The poll was made after disputes over the reliability of the presidential election in the US.
Hungary was among the top countries that trust their elections the least. Only six other countries bested Hungary, among them the US, Mexico, and Chile, for example.
The data shows that 42% of those surveyed said they did not trust the fairness of the election in Hungary. There are more people who still trust it, though only slightly more. 45% said they were positive about the purity of Hungary’s election. In the case of many other countries in the region, this number is higher. It is 54% in Slovakia, 66% in Slovenia, and 71% in Poland. The top two places are taken by Norway and Finland, where nearly 90% said their elections are trustworthy.
If you would like to know more about Hungarian politics, you should read our article about the recap of Hungarian political events in 2019. In this article, you can read about the results of the by-election in Győr following the previous mayor’s resignation due to a sex scandal.