Liberals, EU worried as Hungary hands PM Orban ‘ supermajority’
Budapest, April 9: Hungary’s anti- immigration populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban was set for a third straight term Monday after a crushing election victory, delighting other nationalists but causing unease amongst liberals and some EU members.
Addressing cheering supporters in Budapest late on Sunday, Mr Orban called the result a “destiny- deciding victory” which would give Hungarians “the opportunity to defend themselves and to defend Hungary”.
Mr Orban’s Fidesz party won around 49 per cent of the vote, an improvement on its score from four years ago and which may even gift it a two- thirds majority in Parliament — a “key level” which allows constitutional changes.
Some EU members are likely to view Mr Orban’s renewed internal dominance with trepidation,
given his repeated run- ins with Brussels institutions over his hardline anti- immigration policies and rejection of the EU’s refugee resettlement programme, as well as his moves to clamp down on civil society groups.
The 54- year- old incumbent, who had built a fence on Hungary’s southern border during the 2015 migration crisis, campaigned for re- election on an anti- immigration and protectionist message once again. He has also pledged to cut income taxes and pass proeconomic growth policies.
For Hungary’s beleaguered liberals, who were unable to overcome internal divisions to unite against Fidesz and were trounced at the polls, a torrid four years are in store.
“This is the absolute worstcase scenario,” said Zsuzsanna Szelényi, a former Independent MP. “This new majority coupled with the high turnout will mean Fidesz feels more legitimate, and Orbán will be able to use this new strength in its dealings with Brussels.” However, nationalists and those on the far- right who admire Mr Orban’s strident brand of identity politics and claims to be a protector of “Christian Europe” take comfort in the result.
The poll has confirmed Orban’s unchallenged authority domestically and exposed the continuing weakness and disarray of the opposition.
“Fidesz effectively mobilised in the last days on the countryside, the Opposition seriously underperformed, far below its expectations,” Daniel Hegedus, research adviser at the Freedom House thinktank, told AFP.