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Fidesz candidates win Budapest local elections

July 11th, 2018

As Fidesz candidates win landslides in two Budapest district elections, a left-wing commentator accuses the government of fraudulent propaganda. A pro-government columnist, on the other hand, thinks that the opposition parties have lost all their credibility.

On Sunday, Fidesz candidates won in two Budapest municipal elections. In the 8th district, Botond Sára was elected as Mayor with 63 per cent of the votes. In the 5th district, Valéria Balla won with 67 per cent. The turnout in both elections was low (23 and 20 per cent respectively).

Népszava’s Judit Kósa explains the landslide victory of Botond Sára in terms of what she calls the uneven playing field in the local media. The left-wing columnist contends that local public media outlets heavily favoured the Fidesz candidate and waged a propaganda war on his independent opponent, who was supported by the opposition parties. Kósa goes so far as to suggest that the 8th district municipal election was rigged.

In Magyar Hírlap, Dániel Kacsoh interprets the election results as another proof of the opposition’s decline. The pro-government columnist contends that just like rural Hungarians, voters in Budapest also stand behind Fidesz’ anti-migration policies, and they also acknowledge the government’s successful economic policies. Kacsoh concludes by noting that the opposition parties lack vision as well as credibility. If their decline continues, they may become even weaker, Kacsoh suspects.

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