A candidate backed by left-wing parties has secured a landslide victory at a mayoral election in the former industrial town of Salgótarján, northern Hungary, on Sunday.
Deputy mayor Zsolt Fekete, who rallied the support of the country’s two largest left-wing opposition parties, gained 52 percent of the vote in the county seat of Nógrád county, north of the capital Budapest, in contrast to the 40 per cent result scored by Tibor Simon, the candidate representing the governing centre-right Fidesz-KDNP party alliance.
The other two candidates for the office achieved disappointing results, with István Hulitka for the opposition radical nationalist Jobbik party winning 6 per cent of the vote and Gyula Thürmer, chairman of the extraparliamentary far-left Hungarian Workers’ Party, scoring only 2 per cent.
The election was called in the former industrial town, home to 37 000 people of which 30 000 are eligible to vote, after previous Socialist mayor Ottó Dóra passed away in November. In 2014. Mr. Dóra won the office with a much smaller margin of just 50 votes. The local council continues to have a solid left-wing majority.
via index.hu
photo: Péter Komka/MTI