Parliamentary elections began in Hungary on April 12. Prime Minister Viktor Orban could lose power for the first time in 16 years.
The BBC writes about this.
Polling stations opened at 06:00 Budapest time and will be open until 19:00.
Five parties are participating in the race, but the main confrontation is between Orbanʼs pro-government “Fidesz” and the opposition Tisza party of Peter Magyar, which is leading in social polls. The day before, a torchlight protest against Orban was held in the city of Debrecen by thousands.
These elections will elect 199 deputies, 106 of whom will be elected through single-member constituencies and the rest through party lists. The final vote count will be completed no later than April 18.
Magyar told voters that they needed not just an absolute majority of 100 seats in parliament, but a supermajority of two-thirds of the vote to overturn many of the current governmentʼs constitutional changes that concern the independence of the judiciary, media ownership, and many other areas of life.
- Prime Minister Orban is known for his pro-Russian views and blocking Ukraineʼs membership in the EU. On January 23, Orban declared that Hungary "will not let" Ukraine into the EU for another 100 years.
- Bloomberg wrote on April 9 that Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico may abandon anti-European rhetoric if Orban loses the parliamentary elections.
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