Evaluation of the Hungarian local elections

A letter by MEP Tamás Deutsch, Head of the Fidesz-KDNP Delegation at the European Parliament

Honourable Members,

Dear Colleagues,

As Head of the Fidesz-KDNP Delegation at the European Parliament, let me give you a brief evaluation on the local elections in Hungary held last Sunday.

The results of the Hungarian local elections on the 13th of October 2019 have once again shown that Fidesz is still by far the strongest political force in Hungary. With a high participation of 48.6%, the ruling party alliance won 51% of the votes thus the legitimacy of the Fidesz-KDNP government led by Viktor Orbán has further been strengthened.

Let me remind you, that since 2010 all the elections have been won by the Fidesz-KDNP alliance. At Sunday’s local elections, our party alliance received 1.8 million votes, while the opposition parties got 1.36 million votes altogether. The results of the opposition at the elections clearly demonstrated that Hungary is indeed a democracy and all statements contrary to this – frequently made here at the European Parliament too – are simply not true.

It is worth pointing out, that if national elections had taken place in Hungary on Sunday, the governing parties would have won by an almost two-thirds majority.

As for some details, the ruling party alliance retained majority in all 19 county councils, and Fidesz-KDNP representatives prevailed in 13 out of Hungary’s 23 major cities with county rights. Additionally, 147 Fidesz-KDNP mayors won in municipalities with more than 5000 inhabitants (which represents more than half of the municipalities of this size), and Fidesz-KDNP mayors have been elected in 600 municipalities countrywide.

I also wish to point out, that in the past nine years a representative of the governing forces led the Hungarian capital but voters in Budapest now decided to have a mayor who represents the opposition. However, it is important to underline that Fidesz-KDNP and former mayor Mr. István Tarlós received more votes now than 5 years ago. On the night of the elections, Viktor Orbán announced that the government takes note of this decision, and for the benefit of the country and the inhabitants of Budapest, it is ready to cooperate with the new representatives.

Lastly let me remind you, that under the leadership of mayor István Tarlós, Budapest visibly recovered during the past nine years. In 2010, he took over the leadership of Budapest when the Hungarian capital was on the brink of bankruptcy. Today Budapest is one of Europe’s most dynamically growing, safest capitals. Budapest is also one of Europe’s most popular tourist and investment destinations. The capital’s General Assembly will have 13 Fidesz-KDNP, 18 opposition and 2 independent members. Out of the 23 capital districts, voters elected a mayor representing the opposition forces in 14, and 7 mayors will come from the ruling government alliance.

Should you have any further questions concerning Sunday’s local elections, please do not hesitate to turn to me.

Thank you for your attention.

Tamás Deutsch

Head of the Fidesz-KDNP Delegation at the European Parliament