Viktor Orbán has secured his third term as Hungary’s Prime Minister. His party, Fidesz, won more than 50% of the vote in an electoral system that has been modified to enable big wins by a main party and eliminate the opportunities for small parties to form alliances. Sunday’s election was hardly a fair fight.
The win comes on the back of an election campaign that scapegoated Muslim immigrants in what many see as a diversion from ongoing allegations of Orbán’s misconduct. He has promised to uphold so-called “Christian values” against what an alleged crime wave at the hands of new migrants to Hungary. Orbán has invested millions in this hate campaign over recent years.
In 2017, Hungary was ranked 66 out of 180 countries on the Transparency International’s 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index. Hungary is also suffering from widening income gaps and deteriorating public services, while Orbán’s friends and relatives have been accused of riding on the gravy train of EU awarded state funds.
Hungary has incurred the EU’s wrath for its efforts to curb the independence of the judiciary, challenge data protection laws, and eliminate its central bank’s independence. With this election win, however, Orbán gains another term and a freer hand to enact his ‘democratic mandate.’ It remains to be seen how much more draconian Hungary will become in this new term.
DiEM25 campaigns against corruption in all spheres of politics and advocates for member states, through the EU, to be fully democratic.
Jane is a member of our London DSC and blogs at www.ambitiousmamas.co.uk on feminism, politics and race. You can also follow her on Twitter.
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