AntiGovt protesters march for fairer electoral system
BUDAPEST: Tens of thousands of Hungarians protested in Budapest yesterday against what organisers said was an unfair election system that gave Prime Minister Viktor Orban a landslide victory at the polls after a ‘‘hate campaign’’ against immigrants.
Orban won a third straight term in power in elections held on April 8 after his antiimmigration campaign message secured a strong majority for his ruling Fidesz party in Parliament, giving him twothirds of seats based on preliminary results.
In a Facebook post before the rally, organisers called for a recount of ballots, free media, a new election law, and more efficient cooperation among opposition parties instead of the bickering seen before the vote.
The protest was among the biggest in Hungary in recent years, similar in size to a mass rally prompted by Orban’s plan to tax internet use four years ago and a progovernment demonstration called by Orban supporters shortly before the election.
Protesters marched from the Opera House, a 19th century NeoRenaissance palace on a majestic downtown avenue, to Parliament by the Danube River, waving Hungary’s tricolour flag and the European Union flag, accompanied by whistles and horns.
As demonstrators filled a large square outside Parliament, many were still walking on main roads leading there, chanting: ‘‘We are the majority.’’
Organisers estimated the size of the crowd at more than 100,000 people. — Reuters