Hungary's opposition Socialists edged ahead of Prime Minister Mr Viktor Orban's conservative Fidesz alliance in a first round of parliamentary elections today, after a tally of 75 per cent of votes.
With three quarters of the votes counted, the ex-communist Socialists, defeated four years ago, had polled 41.02 per cent against 40.90 per cent for Fidesz.
Crucially, the liberal Free Democrats' Alliance (SZDSZ), a likely ally of the Socialists, polled 5.81 per cent which, under Hungary's complex voting system, would guarantee them seats in the country's 386-seat Parliament.
The far-right Justice & Life Party (MIEP), a potential lifeline for Orban to cling to power, had 4.25 per cent, below a five per cent threshold needed to gain entry into Parliament.
Support for Orban's Fidesz looked earlier to have surged ahead of today’s first round vote, chalking up a 10 percentage point lead over their Socialist rivals.
Opinion polls released after the vote also gave Fidesz a lead, but this has been whittled away as the official vote count came in from across the country and most noticeably in the capital Budapest, thought to have been a Fidesz stronghold.
A decisive second round in what are likely to be Hungary's last elections before the country joins an enlarged European Union, is due on April 21st.