Analysts are hailing Fidesz's election success as a "historic win". During an event held by the Nézőpont Institute on Monday, Sunday’s election outcome reflected the desire of voters “to confirm the government and replace the opposition”, they said, though the prime minister was the real focus of the election, they added.
Strategic director of the Centre for Fundamental Rights, István Kovács, said the election system had played “no part whatsoever” in the popularity of the Fidesz-led alliance, adding that even Péter Márki-Zay, the prime ministerial candidate of the united opposition, had conceded on Sunday evening that Fidesz would have won a substantial majority of the vote regardless of the election system in place. “We can’t pinpoint the election system when we’re looking for the reason why Fidesz secured a fourth term,” he said. Kovács also rejected criticism of vote counting committees, noting that the opposition had sent delegates to every constituency, while the Open Society Foundations had “more election observers than they send to a banana republic”. “There were no abuses committed on either side that would have had any discernible effect on the outcome,” he said.
Photo credit: MTI