poll

Local elections – Most pollsters project Tarlós to remain Budapest mayor

local elections tarlós

Budapest Mayor István Tarlós is most likely to have the best chance of winning the post for another five years but the victory of joint opposition candidate Gergely Karácsony cannot be ruled out if ruling party voters feel “overly comfortable and the opposition is mobilised”, pollsters said ahead of the local elections on Thursday.

At an event presenting the latest figures by Nézőpont Institute, ZRI Závecz Research, Publicus Institute, Századveg and Medián, several experts were in agreement that the scandals of the recent period could have a big impact on the outcome of the vote, especially in Budapest and Győr.

However, it is impossible to tell whether they would make voters uncertain or mobilise them, they added.

Nézőpont Institute said 49 percent of decided voters supported Tarlós, 43 percent supported Karácsony and 8 percent independent candidate Róbert Puzsér. ZRI-Závecz Research projected 48 percent, 46 percent and 6 percent; Medián 48 percent, 47 percent and 5 percent; Publicus 48 percent, 48 percent and 4 percent; and Századvég 51 percent, 43 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Other independent candidate Krisztian Berki is projected to receive between 0 and 2 percent support.

Newest poll: Incumbent Budapest Mayor Tarlós maintains lead

Budapest-mayor-Tarlós-fidesz

Incumbent Budapest Mayor István Tarlós maintains his lead days ahead of Sunday’s local elections, holding 53 percent of the vote among decided voters, while joint opposition candidate Gergely Karácsony stands at 40 percent and independent Robert Puzsér at 7 percent, the Nézőpont Institute said on Monday.

Among all Budapest voters, Tarlós has 49, Karácsony 29 and Puzsér 7 percent of the vote, the pollster said.

Nezopont conducted the poll by phone between October 3 and 6, on a sample of 500 people.

Fully 67 percent expect Tarlós to win the election, while 18 percent puts Karácsony and 1 percent Puzsér in first place, Nézőpont said.

Regarding an audio recording in which Karácsony can be heard talking about threats made against his family and clashes he has had with other opposition politicians, which was leaked to the media in September, 44 percent of respondents said it can be probably linked to the candidate’s fellow party members. Thirty-three percent of those asked said that Karácsony should resign from his candidacy, while 57 percent said he should continue his bid for Budapest mayor.

Read more news about municipal elections 2019

Local elections – POLL – Fidesz’ Tarlós comfortably ahead

budapest mayor tarlós

István Tarlós, the incumbent mayor of Budapest, remains comfortably ahead of his main rival in a poll by Századvég in advance of the Oct. 13 local election.

The majority of Budapest residents see Tarlós as being more capable of managing the city in all key areas, while the left-wing candidate, Gergely Karácsony, is regarded as an inexperienced political chancer.

According to Századvég, three-quarters of the capital’s electorate expect Tarlós to win the Sunday election. Even a majority of left-wing voters do not see Karácsony’s chances as being high.

“This has a demoralising effect on left-liberal voters,” the think-tank said.

Among decided voters, Tarlós had the support of 51 percent of the voters while Karácsony had the backing of 43 percent of Századvég’s respondents. Self-publicists Róbert Puzsér and Krisztián Berki were on 5 percent and 1 percent respectively, the pollster added.

Local elections – Poll shows Fidesz victory expected even among left-wingers

local elections 2019

Budapest Mayor István Tarlós is expected to be re-elected in the upcoming local elections even among left-wing voters and joint opposition candidate Gergely Karácsony is seen as having no chance of winning, a new poll released by Századvég on Friday showed.

Altogether 74 percent of respondents said they expect Tarlós to win in the October elections and only 16 percent said Karácsony had better chances. Only 3 percent said that Róbert Puzsér can be expected to win and 1 percent said Krisztián Berki would become Budapest mayor, it said.

Around half of left-wing voters or 49 percent said they did not expect Karácsony to win and only 41 percent said the opposite.

Some 60 percent of the people interviewed expressed satisfaction with the job Tarlós has done as Budapest mayor, while 36 percent were dissatisfied. Karácsony’s mayorship of Budapest’s 14th district was rated as satisfactory by 35 percent and 57 percent said the opposite.

Századvég conducted the poll between September 18 and 21 with a sample of 1,000 adults.

Official: Most Hungarians back govt’s humanitarian policy

cross-christian-eastern

Two-thirds of Hungarians support the government’s humanitarian policy, Tristan Azbej, the state secretary in charge of aiding persecuted Christians, said on Friday, citing a fresh survey from the Nézőpont Institute.

The survey’s findings confirm that Hungarians are generous and sympathise with Christians living in far-away countries, Azbej, who is also in charge of the government’s Hungary Helps humanitarian aid programme, told public broadcaster M1.

Altogether 65 percent of the survey’s respondents said the persecution of Christians was a problem.

The majority agreed that Hungary should provide significant aid to those around the world facing religious persecution.

Hungary was the first country in the world to address the aiding of persecuted Christian communities at government level and to acknowledge that Christianity “is the most persecuted religion in the world today”, the state secretary said.

“This truth had been denied by the Western world and kept from international organisations, too,” Azbej said.

“Since it’s become clear that the lives of persecuted Christians don’t matter to liberal politicians as much as the lives of others, the Hungarian government considers it a very important diplomatic task to get other countries to follow its example,” he added.

So far, Hungary has convinced the United States to join the cause and launch its own programme aimed at helping persecuted Christians in cooperation with Hungary, he said. It has also inspired Slovakia’s parliament to adopt a resolution acknowledging the atrocities committed against persecuted Christians and calling on the government to launch an aid scheme.

POLL: Tarlós maintains lead to stay Budapest mayor

tarlós

One month ahead of the local elections, incumbent Budapest Mayor István Tarlós maintains his lead at 50 percent, followed by 42 percent support for joint opposition candidate Gergely Karácsony, pollster Nézőpont Institute said on Monday.

The poll prepared by interviewing a 1,000 Budapest residents over the phone between September 4 and 14 showed that Tarlos, who is supported by the ruling parties, could perform even better than in 2014 when he received 49 percent, Nézőpont said.

The majority of Budapest residents, 51 percent, said they were satisfied with Tarlós’s work, it added.

The poll showed 90 percent of Fidesz supporters in Budapest were in favour of Tarlos who has been the mayor of the city for nine years.

Even 22 percent of opposition voters expressed satisfaction with the mayor’s work.

A total of 42 percent of decided voters expressed support for Karácsony, followed by 7 percent for Róbert Puzsér and 1 percent for Krisztián Berki.

Read more municipal elections 2019

Local elections – POLL: Tarlós 52 percent, Karácsony 42 percent

local election 2019

Some 56 percent of Budapest residents find incumbent mayor István Tarlós fit for the post whereas 32 percent say the same about Gergely Karácsony, the left-liberal opposition candidate, according to a fresh poll released by the Nézőpont research institute on Monday, just five weeks ahead of the local elections.

In the whole electorate, 60 percent expected that Tarlós, the candidate of the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance, would win the ballot, as against 18 percent tipping Karácsony a winner, the poll showed. Róbert Puzsér, an independent candidate, was seen winning the post by only one percent.

Among those identifying themselves as left-wing voters, 43 percent said Tarlós would win the October 13 ballot compared with 41 percent expecting Karácsony’s victory, Nézőpont said in a release.

Among pro-government voters, 88 percent expected the re-election of Tarlós for a third term and only 3 percent expected Karácsony to defeat him.

Among decided voters, Tarlós was backed by 52 percent, Karácsony by 42 percent and Puzsér by 6 percent.

Nézőpont conducted the poll from August 29 to September 7 by phone, on a representative sample of 1,000 Budapest residents.

Read more news about MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS 2019

10,000 trees planted in Budapest, says Budapest Mayor Tarlós

POLL: Ruling parties maintain massive lead

orbán politicians

The ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance has maintained its massive lead ahead of the opposition parties, a poll conducted by the Nézőpont research institute showed.

The ruling parties would win a general election, if held on Sunday, with a 52 percent support among decided voters, according to the poll commissioned and released by daily Magyar Nemzet on Monday.

The leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) and Momentum would garner 11 percent of the votes, respectively, in this group, the poll showed.

Nationalist Jobbik was backed by 9 percent and Socialist-Párbeszéd by 7 percent of the respondents. The satirical Two-tailed Dog party was supported by 4 percent, LMP by 3 percent and radical nationalist Mi Hazank by 2 percent.

Among all voters, support for the ruling parties remained practically unchanged, at 41 percent.

DK and Jobbik were supported by 7 percent each, while Momentum was backed by 6 percent and Socialist-Párbeszéd by 5 percent.

Nézőpont conducted the poll by asking 5,000 voting-age adults in person between July 2 and 9.

POLL: Budapest Mayor Tarlós maintains lead over opposition candidates for mayor

The majority of Budapest voters expect incumbent Mayor István Tarlós to win the autumn local election, a poll published by the Századvég Foundation on Wednesday showed.

A substantial majority, 68 percent of respondents, said Tarlós would win the race, Századvég said. Fully 13 percent expected Gergely Karácsony, the candidate of the Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance who won the opposition preselection process between June 20 and 25, to win.

His opponents at the preselection process, Democratic Coalition (DK) candidate Olga Kálmán and Momentum Movement’s Gábor Kerpel-Fronius got eight and one percent respectively. Róbert Puzsér, an independent candidate who did not participate in the preselection process, was predicted as winner by 1 percent, the poll showed.

Századvég also measured the candidates’ personal popularity with voters.

Tarlós was favoured by 51 percent of respondents, the poll showed.

Of the opposition candidates in Budapest, 43 percent had a favourable opinion of Kálmán and 38 percent of Karácsony. Puzsér and Kerpel-Fronius was popular with 21 and 20 percent, respectively.

In its poll conducted by phone between June 15 and 18, Századvég asked 1,000 voting age adults on their opinion regarding the possible outcome of the ballot in October.

Karácsony wins opposition preselection for Budapest mayor

Fidesz maintains stable lead – POLL

The ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat (KDNP) alliance has maintained its lead over the opposition with a 53 percent support among decided voters, a poll by the Nézőpont Institute published on Tuesday shows.

Among decided voters, the leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) has retained its lead over other opposition forces with 12 percent of the vote. Momentum came second with support of 10 percent, followed by conservative Jobbik with 8 percent. 

The Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance lagged behind with a record low 6 percent trailed closely by the satirical Two-tailed Dog party with 5 percent, the parliamentary threshold. Green LMP had 3 percent, and radical nationalist Mi Hazánk 2 percent, Nézőpont said.

Among the whole population, Fidesz-KDNP had 41 percent while DK had 8 percent of the vote, Nézőpont said.

Momentum in this group had 7 percent, Jobbik also 7 percent, whereas Socialist-Parbeszed, Two-tailed Dog and LMP 3 percent, respectively. Mi Hazánk had 2 percent.

Nézőpont conducted the poll between May 31 and June 26 on a representative sample of 5,000 people.

POLL – No opposition candidate could defeat incumbent Budapest mayor

POLL – No opposition candidate could defeat incumbent Budapest mayor

budapest mayor tarlós

None of the opposition candidates could defeat the incumbent mayor of Budapest, István Tarlós of ruling Fidesz, if the municipal elections were held this weekend, a poll released by Nézőpont Institute on Saturday showed.

Tarlós had the support of 71 percent of Budapest respondents, according to the poll Nézőpont conducted this month for daily Magyar Nemzet.

If challenged by Gergely Karácsony, the joint Socialist-Párbeszéd candidate, Tarlós would win the ballot 50:36.

Should Olga Kálmán, a television personality backed by the Democratic Coalition, come out as a winner of the opposition’s ongoing preselection process to field a candidate against Tarlós in the autumn municipal elections, the incumbent mayor would defeat her 48:38.

Tarlós, serving as mayor since 2010, would defeat Momentum Movement’s Gábor Kerpel-Fronius 54:22 and independent Róbert Puzsér 55:18, the poll showed.

According to the poll, 62 percent of Budapest respondents see Tarlós fit to serve as mayor, as against 35 percent saying the same about Karácsony and 31 percent holding this view about Kálmán.

Nézőpont conducted the poll by asking 1,000 voting age adults by phone between June 14 and 19.

POLL: Half of voters would support incumbent Budapest mayor in municipal elections

tarlós budapest council

Half of decided voters would back the incumbent mayor of Budapest, István Tarlós of ruling Fidesz, if the municipal elections were held this weekend, a fresh poll released by Századvég Institute on Wednesday showed.

Tarlós’s voter base is broader than that of the political right in the capital.

Among the opposition contenders, most popular is Gergely Karácsony, the joint Socialist-Párbeszéd candidate, with support of 21 percent. Karácsony is followed by Olga Kálmán, a senior journalist and television personality backed by the Democratic Coalition, with 15 percent, the poll said.

The next two candidates, independent Róbert Puzsér, and Momentum Movement’s Gábor Kerpel-Fronius, would garner support of 8 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

Asked about Tarlós’s performance, 57 percent of respondents were satisfied, while 41 percent stated the opposite with 2 percent stating no opinion at all.

Századvég conducted the poll by asking 1,000 voting age adults by phone between June 15 and 18.

As we wrote on yesterday, Budapest residents can cast their votes in the opposition’s preselection for a joint candidate for the post of Budapest mayor in the upcoming municipal election. Details HERE.

Eurobarometer: Two-thirds of Hungarians would welcome euro

corruption money euro

The majority of people in countries outside the euro zone would welcome the introduction of the European currency, according to the latest Eurobarometer survey published in Brussels on Friday.

The report said that voter support for the common currency was 66 percent in Hungary, the highest in the group of seven countries.

On average, 55 percent of the group’s population would support an immediate while 42 percent an early introduction of the euro, the report said.

Fully 56 percent of respondents in the seven countries said that the common currency has a good impact on the economies which have already joined the currency union. In Hungary, 70 percent of participants had the same opinion.

The survey was conducted in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden.

EP elections – Fidesz expected to win with 56% of vote – POLL

orbán lévai vote

Hungary’s ruling Fidesz-KDNP alliance is expected to be the winner of the European Parliament election, capturing 56 percent of votes cast, according to a phone survey conducted by pollster Nézőpont on Sunday.

The survey had the Socialist Party and the Democratic Coalition in a dead heat for second place at 10 percent each, Nézőpont Institute head Ágoston Sámuel Mraz told public current affairs channel M1.

Nationalist Jobbik is expected to perform worse than five years ago, winning just 9 percent, he added.

The survey had the liberal Momentum Movement at 7 percent, while LMP is expected to miss the threshold for European parliamentary representation with 4 percent of the vote.

Mraz hailed Sunday’s high turnout as “historic”.

By 6.30pm on Sunday, 41.74 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballots.

EP election – ‘Vast majority’ want change in EU – Poll

EU flag

Fully 81 percent of Hungarian respondents in a recent poll by the Századvég Foundation expressed “withering criticism” of the European Union’s leadership and dissatisfaction with the EU’s handling of migration while indicating a desire for change.

Seventy percent of respondents said they were “extremely dissatisfied with the way Brussels has handled the migration crisis, the weightiest European matter of recent years,”

Századvég’s report said on Wednesday, adding that only 26 percent were of the opposite view.

Fully 51 percent of respondents who declared their intention to vote on Sunday said they supported Fidesz‘s ruling alliance with the Christian Democrats.

The leftist Democratic Coalition is set to gain 11 percent of Hungarian votes in the EP ballot, according to Századvég. The Jobbik party is likely to receive 9 percent, the Socialists-Párbeszéd alliance 7 percent, and the Momentum Movement 6 percent, the think-tank found.

Green LMP and radical nationalist Mi Hazánk was backed by 3 percent, while 7 percent of respondents were uncertain about which party to vote for, according to the phone survey conducted between May 10-18 with a sample of 1,000 randomly selected adults.

Read more news about EP election 2019

POLL – Orbán’s Fidesz further increases support

The ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrats increased their support among decided voters to 57 percent in April, pollster Nézőpont Intézet said on Friday.

The representative survey of 5,000 people conducted in person between April 1 and 26 showed a 1 percentage point increase compared with March and a 10 percentage point increase on the ruling party lists in last April’s general election, Nézőpont said.

Support for the opposition Jobbik and Socialists-Párbeszéd parties shrank within the margin of error from March, from 12 percent to 11 percent in the case of Jobbik, and from 11 percent to 10 percent in the case of Socialists-Párbeszéd .

Nézőpont Institute projected that two-thirds of Hungarian mandates, or 14 seats, would be secured by Fidesz-Christian Democrats if the European Parliament elections were held this Sunday. As a result, they would be able to delegate two more politicians to the EP than they currently have.

Jobbik and Socialists-Párbeszéd could expect to have two MEPs each, Nézőpont said.

The Democratic Coalition was the winner of the month, by increasing support from 6 percent in March to 8 percent in April, the pollster said. They could delegate two politicians to the EP if the elections were held this Sunday, it added.

Momentum and LMP swapped places compared with March. The former increased support by 1 percentage point to 5 percent and the latter lost 1 percentage point, dropping to 4 percent. As a result, they would each be able to delegate one MEP, Nézőpont said.

The satirical Two-tailed Dog party received 3 percent and radical nationalist Mi Hazánk 2 percent among decided voters, according to the April poll.

Among all voters, support for Fidesz-Christian Democrats stood at 42 percent, for Jobbik and Socialists-Párbeszéd at 7 percent each, for Democratic Coalition at 4 percent, for LMP at 3 percent, for Momentum and Two-tailed Dog at 2 percent each and for Mi Hazánk at 1 percent, the statement showed.

Featured image : MTI

EP elections – Orbán’s alliance widen lead in newest poll

Orbán

With just over a month to go until the European parliamentary elections, the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance has widened its lead over its rivals, according to a fresh poll by the Századvég Institute.

If the elections were held this Sunday, 36 percent of the entire electorate would vote for Fidesz. In the whole sample, 9 percent would vote for the opposition nationalist Jobbik, while the Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance would garner 7 percent of the vote.

The leftist opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) would get 5 percent, with opposition LMP and the liberal Momentum Movement both standing at 3 percent, the poll showed.

The radical nationalist Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland) Movement would get 1 percent, with all other parties garnering 2 percent of the vote. Fully 34 percent of those asked were uncertain of their party preference.

Among decided voters, Fidesz is supported by 54 percent, Jobbik by 14 percent and the Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance by 10 percent. DK is backed by 9 percent while LMP and Momentum are each supported by 4 percent. Mi Hazánk is backed by 2 percent of decided voters, while all other parties have a combined 3 percent support.

Századvég’s phone poll was conducted between April 10 and 21 with a randomly selected sample of 1,000 voting-age adults.

Fidesz collects 1.15 m signatures to support PM’s programme

Some 1.15 million signatures have been collected so far in support of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s seven-point programme to stop migration, ruling Fidesz communications director Balázs Hidvéghi said on Tuesday.

He told a press conference that

people have expressed their agreement with Orbán and Fidesz in that Europe must be protected and migration must be stopped.

Based on feedback so far, people consider it especially important that “handling migration should be taken away from Brussels bureaucrats” and returned to national governments, he added. Proposals that no country should be forced to take in migrants and that the EU should have anti-migration leaders have also met with full agreement among supporters, Hidvéghi said.

“This is what’s at stake at the European Parliament elections on May 26,” he added.

Hungarians are shockingly bad at disposing of e-waste

e-waste

Today is Earth Day, which is celebrated to support environmental protection projects around the world. Based on research on this topic, every second Hungarian does not dispose correctly of electronic appliances and devices (e-waste).

46% of people place unwanted e-waste into bins or onto the street during house clearances. What makes this percentage particularly disappointing is that ¾ of these people actually recycle other household waste.

As reported by HVG, the increased demand for electronic devices and appliances is accompanied by increased production of e-waste, which is set to continue in the coming decades. Media Markt investigated Hungary’s household and e-waste habits.

We want to recycle

The majority of Hungary’s population pays attention to recycling. ¾ of residents selectively sort plastics while 67% of them recycle paper. With regards to waste which is not transported away from households, figures are still looking promising; 60% of residents sort glassware, batteries and e-waste.

In spite of initial doubts by residents regarding the possibility of their sorted waste being all remixed later, statistics show that people are becoming more confident about the recycling process. For example, half of the respondents believe that e-waste is properly disposed of while 27% affirm that it is disposed of properly.

Despite the confidence, e-waste is not disposed of correctly

In reality, nearly 50% do not organise e-waste properly.  1 in 5 put it out on the street; 30% of these people do so during house clearances. What is even more worrying, 6% put it in the bin while 7% just leave it on the street in the hopes that someone who might want it will pick it up.

Media Markt advises people to take their e-waste to designated collection points during official house clearance dates or give them to electronic businesses; Media Markt themselves process 1000 tonnes of e-waste a year.

What not many people know

The research also investigated why some people do not take e-waste to the correct disposal points.

  • 20% cannot or does not want to worry about e-waste recycling.

  • 15% does not have time to dispose of e-waste properly.

  • 22% of the respondents did not know how to recycle their waste.

“The research has taught us valuable lessons. A third of residents still do not know that they can dispose of e-waste at electronic businesses,” said Péter Bíró, an expert at Media Markt. He added that people can recycle their e-waste in all their 32 stores in Hungary.

Based on a law introduced in 2004, all businesses are obligated to remove old electronic equipment when their new ones are replacing items that the customer does not want. The company has to do this for free, and it can occur on the day of delivering the new item if requested by the customer.

Since 2015, due to a Government Decree, electronic companies also have to offer a discount if the exchange occurs on the same day.

According to the UN’s latest report, every year, 50 million tonnes of e-waste is produced, which could rise to 120 million by 2050. At the moment, only 20% of e-waste is recycled.

Recently, we reported that the opposition mayoral candidate for Budapest promises to transform the capital into a green city. Electric car-sharing options are also coming to Budapest.