Orban against all … Parliamentary elections in Hungary will be held on April 3 and for the first time the conservative Prime Minister Victor Orban, who is running for a fourth term, will face a united opposition.
The president of the country, Janos Ander, announced the date of the elections through his official website, earlier today, Tuesday.
Orban, who has ruled since 2010, maintains a high popularity in this country of 9.8 million people. For his supporters, his main assets are stability in Hungary and the defense of national interests and Christian identity. On the other hand, his opponents criticize the hard line he followed in immigration after the crisis of 2015 broke out, but also his “unfree” positions on many issues, from the independence of justice and freedom of the press to the rights of the LOATKI community. .
Together with the Polish Conservatives, the 58-year-old Hungarian Prime Minister has emerged as a fierce opponent of the policies promoted by the European Union, which has launched many infringement proceedings against him.
In response to the uproar caused last year in Brussels by a law banning the reporting of homosexuality and gender reassignment to people under the age of 18, Orban called for a referendum to be held at the same time as the parliamentary elections. Hungarian voters are asked to answer four questions: If they agree to have their school talk to their children about sexuality “without parental consent”, if they support “promoting gender reassignment therapy for minors” and “distributing material” on if they approve “the unrestricted presentation, in minors, of sexual content that affects their development”.
The policy pursued by Victor Orban over the last decade brought, in early January, the “full support” of former US President Donald Trump, who hailed “a great leader” who “loves his country with all his heart and seeks security for its people “.
In the 2018 election, Fidesz and his ruling coalition partner, the Christian Democrats, won 48% of the 133 of the 199 seats in parliament.
This time, the opposition presents a united front, proposing a single candidate for prime minister in all 106 constituencies. For the first time since 2006, parliamentary elections appear so ambiguous in the country.
Peter Marki-Zai, 49, emerged victorious in the October by-elections from six opposition parties across the political spectrum – from the nationalist right to the Social Democrats. “If we remain united, then we are in a position to overthrow the most corrupt government in Hungary’s 1,000-year history,” said the Conservative mayor of a provincial town last week.
The unprecedented opposition coalition hopes to overthrow the “authoritarian” Orban, who has introduced electoral rules believed to favor his party at the expense of other formations.
“Putting aside its internal divisions, the opposition has a real chance to succeed, while Victor Orban will have a hard time securing a two-thirds majority,” said Daniel Mikes, an analyst at the Republikon Institute. “But if this ‘miracle weapon’ (of the united opposition) does not work, we should expect a deep crisis in the opposition parties,” he warned.
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