2022 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN HUNGARY

Abstract

The Hungarian parliamentary elections of 2022 for the fifth time in the recent history of the country brought victory to the FIDESZ party, including the fourth with a constitutional majority of 2 /3 of parliamentary mandates. At the same time, during the current election campaign in Hungary, the system of preliminary election of a single candidate (by the type of primaries) among opposition parties and movements was tested for the first time. However, this did not save the multi-party coalition from another failure. Nevertheless, the recent elections have further strengthened the trend towards the formation in Hungary, as in a number of other Central European countries, of a two-party political system with a small layer of a «third force». The surprise of the elections was the passage to Parliament of the extreme nationalist party «Our Fatherland», which partially broke away from the Jobbik party after the 2018 elections. Now, within the walls of parliament, former right-wing radical party members will meet with the renewed Jobbik party, which performed in the last elections in a coalition with left-liberal forces. This campaign took place against a very unfavorable international background – the war in Ukraine and increased pressure on Hungary from Brussels and from neighboring states that do not agree with the aspirations of the Orban cabinet to prevent the use of Hungarian territory for military purposes. This circumstance made the task extremely difficult for Viktor Orban, the permanent leader of the FIDESZ party since its foundation, and at the same time played in favor of the opposition, as another reason for criticism of the foreign policy pursued by the Prime Minister, a significant element of which since 2011 has been the strengthening of pragmatic relations with Russia

Keywords

• parliamentary elections
• hungary
• party struggle
• fidesz
• united opposition