"We're sending the message to Europe that this is not the past, this is the future," Orbán said in his victory speech.Continue reading
Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP alliance has been reelected upon the conclusion of the 2022 Hungarian parliamentary election, forming government for the fifth time. Securing 53.10 percent of the votes, Fidesz-KDNP has won 135 seats in the National Assembly and thus kept its two-thirds majority. Péter Márki-Zay’s United for Hungary alliance has secured 35.04 percent of votes, forming the opposition with 56 seats in the National Assembly. The far-right Our Homeland (“Mi Hazánk”) Movement has also been able to secure more than the 5 percent minimum to be represented in the National Assembly, winning 7 seats with 6.17 percent of the vote.
On the national list, which includes Hungarian citizens living abroad, 2,735,383 Hungarians voted for Fidesz-KDNP (47 seats) while 1,804,588 voted for the United for Hungary alliance (38 seats), and 317,780 voted for the Our Homeland (“Mi Hazánk”) Movement (7 seats).
In Hungary’s constituencies, with voting restricted to those with official residence in the country, Fidesz-KDNP secured 88 seats while the United for Hungary alliance secured 18.
A comparatively smaller portion of Hungarians also voted for the satirical Two-Tailed Dog Party; the newly-formed Solution (“Megoldás”) Movement; and the Covid-skeptic Party of Normal Life, but not enough to secure any of them a 5 percent minimum on the national list that would have granted representation in the Assembly.
5,241,029 Hungarian citizens, making up 69.54 percent of the electorate, voted in this year’s elections, almost as much as the 2018 election but notably less than the 73.51 percent record set during the 2002 election. This was a major success for Fidesz, on par with its landslide victory in 2010, when the party won with more than 2.7 million votes as well. 2,295,277 eligible adults, or 30.46 percent of the electorate, did not show up for this election.
By securing its two-thirds majority in the National Assembly once again, Fidesz has kept its authority to alter the constitution and adopt constitutional laws if it chooses to. The make up of the Parliament will be similar with regard to Fidesz-KDNP’s MPs, now being opposed by the United for Hungary alliance and the Our Homeland Movement as a third opposition party. Questions around the future of Márki-Zay’s coalition have been raised, but these will surely be clarified in the coming days.
In the featured photo, newly elected Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during his speech at Fidesz-KDNP’s results event. Featured photo by Zoltán Fischer/Prime Minister’s Press Office/MTI
