On April 3rd, Hungary will hold elections for its National Assembly, and Viktor Orban, the current Prime Minister since 2010, faces his greatest organized opposition yet. The far-right, social democrats, green, and liberal parties have all thrown their support behind one candidate, Peter Marki-Zay, in an attempt to end Orban’s increasingly authoritarian and corrupt rule, reported Al-Jazeera.
To ensure the opposition is unsuccessful, Orban has taken several actions to swing the elections in his favor. He recently legalized “voter tourism”, according to The New York Times, which allows voters to register outside their home district. This type of fraud has allowed migrant workers from other countries to vote using a Hungarian address despite not living in Hungary. Reuters reported that Orban has placed a referendum on a controversial LGBT bill on the same day to rally the support of socially conservative voters and divert the attention of the opposition. Orban also used email addresses obtained as part of official COVID-19 surveillance to send out propaganda accusing his opposition of dragging Hungary into the Ukrainian War.
These actions are only the latest of Orban’s anti-democratic electoral and fear-mongering tactics used to ensure his victory. Hungary has a proportional representation system, whereby seats in the National Assembly are assigned based on the proportion of votes secured by each political party. In the previous two national elections, Orban’s party, Fidesz, won less than half the votes but has still maintained a supermajority in Parliament due to Orban’s restructuring of the formula to benefit Fidesz. The new formula also makes it more difficult for small parties to win seats, thus limiting the people’s choices of candidates. Over the course of his time as Prime Minister, Orban has taken control of both public media and independent news outlets, making it impossible for his opponents to reach voters through campaign ads, interviews, or news stories. Since 2010, Orban has made Hungary into what he proudly declares an ‘illiberal democracy’: a democracy focused on Christianity, conservative values, and xenophobia.
For only the second time in EU history, the Organization for Security and Cooperation is sending observers to monitor the election. Local organizations have also rallied 20,000 volunteers to serve as poll observers. Still, The New York Times quoted an election analyst at Political Capital in Hungary as saying, “We are very, very far away from a fair electoral environment.” A spokesman for Fidesz, on the other hand, told Al Jazeera, “It’s going to be a completely free election. The OSCE comes from a world that is against us.”
Hungary is no longer a true democracy. The formula used to determine parliament seats does not reflect the political beliefs of voters, and most voters lack access to unbiased media or news presenting alternative perspectives. However, Orban has only a narrow lead, according to polls, and the multipartisan coalition backing Peter Marki-Zay may win enough votes to defeat Orban. This would be the clearest path to setting a new course for Hungary that allows free speech, free press, free expression, and more democratic elections. If Orban secures yet another term as Prime Minister, the EU must confront the possibility of restricting or revoking Hungary’s EU membership, as Hungary no longer aligns with the EU’s standards of democracy and freedom. Continued authoritarianism in Hungary undermines the political freedoms of its people and poses a threat to minorities and political dissidents.
Orban’s latest actions, before Hungary’s national elections, only further cement Hungary as a democracy in name only. It is in reality an authoritarian state with little freedom of press, speech, or expression. An impressive coalition of many diverse political parties has rallied together to challenge Orban, and it remains to be seen if Orban’s time as Prime Minister is finally at a close. However, even if the opposition wins, it will take months or even years to see if Hungary will truly change its course toward liberal democracy.
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