Orban crushingly defeated? Polls give the opposition a constitutional majority

According to polls conducted before Sunday's parliamentary elections in Hungary and published after the polls closed at 19 on Sunday, it appears that Peter Magyar's opposition Tisza party clearly won the vote.

According to a survey conducted by the Median center on April 7-11, Tisza has a chance to win up to 135 seats in the 199-seat unicameral parliament. According to the study, the far-right Movement of Our Homeland (Mi Hazank) does not exceed the 5% electoral threshold.

Tisza is also leading in the 21 Research Center poll conducted before the elections. According to the survey, Magyar's party enjoys support of 55 percent. voters, while Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz can count on 38 percent; The Our Homeland Movement is balancing on the verge of the electoral threshold. If converted into seats in parliament, Tisza would receive 132 and Fidesz – 61.

There are no exit polls in Hungary. The counting of votes began immediately after 19, when the polling stations were closed. According to the National Electoral Office (NVI), the first partial results should be published around 20.

Magyar: We are cautiously optimistic; however, please be patient

We are cautiously optimistic, but please be patient, said Peter Magyar, the leader of the opposition Tisza, on Sunday after the closing of polls in the parliamentary elections in Hungary.

– Exactly 23 years after the referendum in which we decided to join the European Union, April 12 will change our future again – said the leader of Tisza.

– I don't want to win the polls, but I want to win the elections. Therefore, let's wait for the results. We are cautiously optimistic, but we must remain patient, Magyar urged.

– Stay calm, we will celebrate when we know the results. Hungary will be free again, said the leader of the Hungarian opposition.

He added that his party recorded “thousands of irregularities” during Sunday's elections.

Head of Orban's office: we count on a majority in parliament

The Fidesz-KDNP coalition hopes to gain a majority in the Hungarian parliament after Sunday's elections, Gergely Gulyas, head of the office of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, announced after the polls closed.

– We hope that the ruling parties will again receive a mandate to govern for another four years, Gulyas said. He also said that the high turnout, which was partly the result of the mobilization of Fidesz and KDNP voters, is a signal that Hungarian democracy “is extremely strong.”

Orban did not speak immediately after the polls closed.

Attendance at 6.30 p.m. was 77.80 percent. – 5,856,515 people voted in the elections.

Voting ended at 19, although voters standing in line can still cast their votes. Every eligible Hungarian citizen voting in the country has the right to cast two votes: one for a candidate in a single-member district, and the other for a party or national list in the case of persons belonging to one of the minorities registered in Hungary. Voters residing outside the country cast one vote, only for the national list.

mrf/ mal/ jbw/