Median: Fidesz popularity melting fast
The number of supporters of the ruling Fidesz party fell by 3 percentage points in March to 24% from February’s 27% based on the country’s entire population, reaching a two-year low, according to a recent poll by Hungarian research company Median conducted for Hungarian economic weekly HVG.
Median also noted that the current figures are down from the 36% measured a year ago, meaning the party has lost one third of its supporters. The declining number of Fidesz supporters, however, is not good news for opposition parties, as with the exception of Democratic Coalition which garnered 1% more supporters based on the country’s entire population and 2% more for those eligible to vote, they were not able to raise their numbers. Moreover, the number of people without a party preference has not been this high since March 2013, precisely 37% of the population.
Overall satisfaction with the Fidesz-government’s work has also hit a two-year low, with only 29% of the opinion that the Orbán government has performed well, while 68% of those polled rated the work of Orbán’s cabinet as “bad”. Median pointed out that 15% of Fidesz supporters are critical toward the governmentʼs recent actions.
Despite Fidesz losing the last by-elections, 60% of the party’s supporters – that is 44% of the population – expect to “definitely” attend any upcoming elections. Of the far-right Jobbik supporters, 59% say they will “definitely” attend elections, while of the opposition parties, 40% of LMP supporters and 44% of Együtt (Together) supporters are committed to attending the elections.
Reuters reported on April 20 that despite remarkable economic turnaround Hungary has seen since Prime Minister Viktor Orbán took power in 2010, the popularity of the prime minister and his Fidesz party has been on a steep decline, paving the way for the rise of the far-right Jobbik party.
Reuters noted that the special “sectoral taxes” burdening banks, telecoms, energy and retail have helped the government bring the budget deficit under 3% percent, and the country’s debt is also “coming down slowly”.
Since the proposed tax levy on internet traffic brought ten of thousands of protesters to the streets of Budapest, the popularity of Fidesz has been falling heavily according to opinion polls, however, a week ago Orbán said "he does not follow country-wide opinion polls".
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