Fidesz keeps majority in Hungarian parliament – Yobbik support jumps

Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party maintained its two-thirds majority in parliamentary elections held in Hungary on Sunday, winning 44.54 percent of the vote.

“We racked up a crushing victory,” Orban said in his victory speech quoted by poltics.hu. “I am proud that I received a mandate to continue my work.”

While there are still five district counts to be completed, Fidesz’s victory looks secure. The main left-liberal opposition parties, which formed a coalition for the elections,  received only 26 percent of votes.  This is much lower than the 35 percent pollsters had predicted and the parties raised concerns about recent changes to electoral regulations, which they claim Fidesz pushed through in order to tip the scales in its favor.

The far-right Yobbik party received 21 percent of the vote, beating its previous peak of 17 percent in 2010. Pollsters had predicted that Yobbik would do well in the elections, with its anti-establishment rhetoric finding popularity among mainly young “protest” voters, but the speed of the party’s rise has nonetheless come as a surprise.

Yobbik is a radically nationalist party that combines so-called Christian values with a rejection of the Hungarian and European political elite. The party, which is often accused by observers of encouraging racism, homophobia  and neo-fascism, now holds 23 seats in parliament. With its representation, including seats at the European parliament, Yobbik is now Hungary’s third-largest political party and the strongest far-right party in Europe.

“Jobbik managed to reach a better result than the pollsters predicted for us,” the Party President Gabor Vona said, as quoted by politics.hu following the election. “But we have to acknowledge that we were unable to achieve the goal we set for ourselves in the election campaign… We failed to bring a close to the last 24 years.”

Photo courtesy of Beroesz.