Gergely Marton on Hungary’s Election скачать в хорошем качестве

Gergely Marton on Hungary’s Election

Hungary will go to the polls this Sunday but the election will no longer be an easy win for the incumbent government. Until recently, it seemed ruling right-wing populist party Fidesz, headed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, was set to win a fourth term in power, but this may no longer be the case. Scandals involving corruption, leaks and spying allegations have clouded Orban’s chances of an easy win and raised the hopes of the country’s opposition. According to Gergely Marton, a journalist at the Hungarian publication HVG, “it looks like the field is narrowing down and it makes predicting very difficult.” However, this does not mean it’s smooth sailing for the Hungarian opposition either, which consists of a number of smaller parties. Fidesz has a tight grip on the media, and, thanks to the constitutional changes implemented by Fidesz, the complicated voting system gives the ruling party the upper hand. “One single party has written the law under which we are electing a new parliament. They have done gerrymandering... They rewrote the election law and they tried to figure a way how the biggest minority, which is Fidesz, can rule a country against the will of a majority. This is what happened in 2014, this is what is going to happen now in 2018.” There are also a number of “fake” parties running in these elections. With the right number of signatures and candidates, these bogus parties also receive funding from the government at the taxpayer’s expense. Although this may be the price to pay for more democratic and open elections, a number of these parties are participating because “Fidesz wants them to be there,” according to Marton. “It seems like in those districts, which are problematic for Fidesz, there are more fake candidates, [than] in the districts which are clearly Fidesz-dominated,” Marton says, adding that, “It's very hard to know where the fake parties start and the big parties end.” Among the larger and more established opposition parties are the right-wing Jobbik party and the centrist LMP party. Marton says that these parties are likely to pick up votes from conservative voters who “don't want to re-elect a very populistic force and a force which likes to communicate but not to govern, which forgot how real politics is done in regard of healthcare or education.” Nonetheless, the complex electoral system means that opposition supporters still have to vote tactically in order to decrease Fidesz’s majority. Hromadske spoke to Hungarian journalist Gergely Marton via Skype to discuss the upcoming Hungarian elections, the obstacles facing opposition parties, and what this means for Hungary. Get up to speed on Ukraine. Follow Hromadske! http://en.hromadske.ua Ukraine, Explained.   / hromadske   Facebook:   / hromadskeint.  . Twitter:   / hromadske