The Sunday Telegraph

Orban ‘will do a Trump’ if he loses election

- By Balazs Cseko in Budapest and James Crisp

VIKTOR ORBAN will stop at nothing in a desperate effort to cling to power if he loses elections in Hungary today, an opposition MP and leading anti-corruption campaigner warned.

The authoritar­ian leader would resort to dirty tricks and Donald Trumpstyle tactics if he is defeated by a coalition of six opposition parties and prevented from winning a fourth consecutiv­e term, Akos Hadhazy said.

“There won’t be a clear transition. Fidesz will blame the chaos on the opposition,” Mr Hadhazy, a close ally of opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay, said.

“I see similariti­es between Orban and Trump. [I] wouldn’t rule out similar behaviour by Orban to what happened on Capitol Hill.”

On Jan 6 last year, Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building in Washington DC hoping to overturn the result of the US presidenti­al elections. Mr Orban has accused the opposition of “massive and unambiguou­s” electoral fraud through illegal data collection.

“Just like Orban, Trump had also talked about electoral fraud before the US presidenti­al vote,” Mr Hadhazy said and predicted there would not be a peaceful transition if Fidesz lost.

“There could be staged disorder. Ballot boxes could be taken away and we can’t rule out public disturbanc­e.”

Polls predict a Fidesz victory from 3 per cent to 10 per cent, with the ruling party losing its two-thirds majority in parliament.

Fidesz said “the Left” would involve Hungary in the war if it won the vote and “burden Hungarians with a brutal existentia­l crisis”.

 ?? ?? Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, will try to win a fourth consecutiv­e term in today’s election
Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, will try to win a fourth consecutiv­e term in today’s election

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