Understanding the choice of Hungarian voters

2014. április 29. 15:37

Hungary's Nezopont Institute ran the April 6 results through the old system and found that Fidesz-KDNP would still have won an overwhelming majority of 61 percent of seats.

2014. április 29. 15:37
Ferenc Kumin

»When Blair won re-election and a huge majority in what was called the "quiet landslide", nobody called it unfair. Recall that on April 6, Fidesz-KDNP won 96 out of 106 districts, more than 90 percent. The fact that Hungary has a mixed system - the remaining 93 seats elected from the party list vote - reduces the majority to 67 percent.


But what if the rules had not been changed for this election? What would have happened then? Hungary's Nezopont Institute ran the April 6 results through the old system and found that Fidesz-KDNP would still have won an overwhelming majority of 61 percent of seats. It turns out to be higher according to the new rules because a larger percentage of parliamentary mandates are elected from the single-mandate districts. Again, like in the British system, the parties have to be able to win the first-past-the-post races. The far-right Jobbik failed to win any of those races, so while they won a larger percentage of the popular vote than in 2010, their percentage share of parliamentary mandates is smaller.

In 2005, Hungary's Constitutional Court ruled that the electoral districts had to be redrawn because they were too disproportionate. In a later ruling, the Court annulled the old districts. There was no other alternative; the system had to have new districts. The charges that these were gerrymandered have proven flimsy. Critics claimed that opposition strongholds were deliberately placed in larger districts (in terms of voters), thereby diluting those opposition votes, but data from the April 6 results how this to be simply false.

We would have a hard time finding another example of European voters re-electing a government by such a huge margin. But there is nothing wrong with the Hungarian voter, nor the country's election rules. Hungarians re-elected Orban because a weak opposition failed to offer a credible alternative when, more importantly, his government has given voters reason to believe that Hungary and its economic prospects are turning around.”
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Összesen 21 komment

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Sorrend:
Ouroboros
2014. október 10. 12:11
Down syndrome experts have a chance of understanding fully the choice of Hungarian voters. *April 6*, Feri? Are you a yank or what?
ciseaux
2014. október 10. 00:07
USange! The Aljazeera clip is so amazingly biased, so distorted of the reality, it almost hurts to watch. I congratulate everyone who could bear watching it till the end! Anti-Hungarian propaganda in the Western media is ridiculously onesided, but nobody should make a mistake about it, it is "made in Hungary", meaning it comes and is inspired by the Hungarian left. Its historical loss of the 2010 elections, and the predictable demise if its influence pushes the left for external support, as it never could and never will take power in Hungary without it. The Left always attacks it's prime enemy, the "nation". By the way, anyone remotely familiar with the racial and ethnic problems of the UK, Aljazeera's home, or that of Qatar, where it stems from, now can just lay back and have a drink, fascism may come one day to Hungary, but, as it once was, it will be unwillingly imported from the West.
Man dinner
2014. május 11. 22:51
Same bullshit every day. The parties from the left should have worked and acted like the politicians, but they failed. They failed to show their capability of managing the country, reborning and loosing their disgusting past. They are motivated only for power and money, and their slogan is always the same: Orban is the devil! 2/3. You can think about it as many times as humanly possible. In this time we are doing what we have to: going to continue renewing Hungary. With or without your help.
Nick Holgerzson
2014. május 11. 22:48
The election results fully demonstrate that Viktor Orbán's policies enjoy broad support in Hungarian society. Long Live Viktor Orban! Long Live Hungary!
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