NEW YORK—Viktor Orban, the leader of Hungary’s right-wing nationalist party Fidesz, won his third consecutive election on Sunday by a landslide majority and with a record turnout of more than 70 percent.
Preliminary results show that Orban, who has served as prime minister since 2010, will renew his position controlling two thirds of the chamber (133 of 199 seats). Opponents fear that a broad two-third majority will allow him to modify the Constitution and further entrench himself in power. It will be his fourth time ruling the country, since he served a term from 1998 to 2002.
Orban, a far-right populist, is an advocate of turning Hungary into an “illiberal state” modelled after Turkey and Russia. He built his electoral campaign around xenophobic and anti-immigrant views, promising to further shield the country’s borders from refugees. On the wake of his victory, several journalists criticized Orban’s corruption and control over the country’s media and justice system.
During a press conference on Monday, international observers from the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) called out several irregularities in the electoral process. Their preliminary statement defined a “pervasive overlap of state and ruling party resources” and the different voting procedures for citizens of different nationalities
Far right leaders from across Europe such as France’s Marine LePen and Netherland’s Geert Wilders have congratulated Orban for his victory.
Photo: Viktor Orban at the EPP Summit, Brussels, March 2017 (Wikimedia Commons). Images may have been resized by our WordPress theme.
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