HUNGARY’S CENTRE-RIGHT Fidesz opposition party was set for a landslide election victory according to exit polls last night, while the ruling Socialists were being pushed hard for second place by extreme nationalists.
The poll suggested Fidesz had won as much as 57 per cent of votes, ahead of the beleaguered Socialists on 19-20 per cent and Jobbik – far-right populists who have focused on the need to eradicate “Gypsy crime” – on 17 per cent, and gaining seats in parliament for the first time.
The liberal Politics Can Be Different (LMP) party, which has a strong environmental platform, was expected to be the only other group to cross the 5 per cent threshold required to enter parliament.
Fidesz was expected to capitalise on a collapse in support for the Socialists, who have been dogged by scandals and social unrest as well as a crippling economic crisis, which forced the government to agree a €20 billion emergency bailout from international lenders.
The deal was sealed on condition that the government institute tax rises and tough cost-cutting measures, which have helped stabilise the economy but only deepened the Socialists’ unpopularity.
As well as the mainstream Fidesz party, the main beneficiary of the Socialists’ travails has been Jobbik, which has pledged to crack down on corruption, bring patriotism back into politics, fight harder for Hungarian interests in the European Union and strike at so-called Gypsy crime.
Jobbik insists that it is not racist, but critics at home and abroad castigate its use of anti-Semitic and anti-Roma rhetoric, and some blame the party and the closely linked paramilitary group, the Hungarian Guard, for a rise in violent attacks against Gypsies that have claimed several lives.
A second round of voting will be held in two weeks, but yesterday’s outcome was expected to give a clear indication of how the next parliament would look.
“I came to vote early this morning . . . I don’t think I can do much more for the victory today,” said Fidesz leader Viktor Orban as he cast his ballot.
Prime minister from 1998-2002, Mr Orban added that his main task if returned to power would be “to get the country out of despair”.
Voting in Budapest, student Tamas Vardai said Jobbik was “the only party which can put the country in order. This is the first time I voted and I’m confident Hungary will have a brighter future.”