Municipal elections: Fidesz dominates around country
In line with the expectations of pollsters and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s governing party Fidesz enjoyed a dominant victory in the municipal elections. István Tarlós was reelected as Budapest mayor, gaining 49.05% of the votes while Lajos Bokros, Hungarian economist famous for his 1990s austerity measures called the “Bokros-package”, came second with 36.03%. “Despite the burdens in front of us, we can go on the road we started walking” said Tarlós following his victory.
In his short speech he promised to solve all the emerging problems, though “it will be tough work”. Bokros evaluated his second place, and the fact that he only lost by 14%, as “a victory in a dictatorship”. He urges the establishment of a new alliance as “though we won today, still we need to work hard in order to flee from the tentacles of the octopus and start rebuilding democracy in Hungary”.
Country-wide Fidesz bagged 20 counties, MSZP won 5, Együtt-PM and Democratic Coalition won 2 each, and Jobbik, LMP and an independent runner-up gained 1 county reach. Votes were still being counted in one county. Leftist parties are urging the renewal of the left again, and claim that the low participation of voters (42% as compared to the previously measured 46%) show that people are disappointed with politics.
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