Socialist Government for Hungary???? - Socialist Party ahead

[BOZG]

Just watching the news. Hungarian Socialist Party leader Peter Medgyessy (sp?) is in front going into second round of voting with more than 42% of the vote to 41% held by PM Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party. Only other party in the running is the Hungarian Free Democrats Party with 6%. 80% of the votes have been counted. All other running parties got less than the 5% neeeded to get into government. Even if the Fidesz party wins the election, the Socialist Party are likely to form a coalition with the Free Democrats. (The two parties held a coalition government from 1994-1998.

VICTORY TO THE SOCIALISTS

[BOZG]

Here's an article I found on it


Socialists Win First Hungarian Vote

By George Jahn
Associated Press Writer
Sunday, April 7, 2002; 11:50 PM

BUDAPEST, Hungary –– The Socialists narrowly defeated the governing center-right coalition in the first round of elections Sunday and prepared to enlist the help of another party to gain final victory in a runoff.

The election comes at a crucial time, as the country approaches membership in the European Union. The country of 10 million seems to be moving toward a two-party system, and the party in power when it enters the EU could settle in for the long term.

In Sunday's vote, the Socialists won 42.03 percent of votes for party lists, against 41.11 percent for the governing coalition of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Party and the Hungarian Democratic Forum. They were also leading in 75 of the 131 constituencies decided by direct vote where no candidate got more than 50 percent, forcing a second round April 21.

With 185 parliamentary seats decided in the first round from a total of 386, the Socialists had won 93 of them, Fidesz had won 87 and the Free Democrats, four. One more seat was awarded to a candidate nominated by both the Socialists and the Free Democrats.

Acknowledging his setback in front of a huge Fidesz poster proclaiming "The Future has Started," Orban nonetheless refused to admit defeat ahead of the second round.

"Hard work awaits us," he told cheering supporters.

Peter Medgyessy, the Socialist party's candidate for prime minister, was upbeat yet cautious as his party's strong showing became apparent.

"The voters have expressed their will; this government must go," he told cheering supporters. But he cautioned against proclaiming victory too early.

"We did well, but we will wait two weeks before we celebrate," he said, alluding to the second round of voting.

The Hungarian Justice and Life party, a small but vocal right-wing party, had 3.7 percent, short of the 5 percent needed to get into parliament.

With the elections not decided by Sunday's results, a runoff will be held April 21 in those of the 176 individual constituencies where no one won an outright majority or where turnout is less than 50 percent.

The rest of the 386 parliamentary seats are decided in votes cast not for candidates but for parties.

Justice and Life leader Istvan Csurka has said he would pull any of his party's candidates still in the running in those constituencies for the second round and tell supporters to vote for Orban's party.

But with the Socialists winners of the first round, and the Free Democrats third place, Orban's party was unlikely to muster enough reserve support in the second runoff round to turn the tables on the Socialists.

The Socialists and Free Democrats already governed together from 1994 to 1998, and Free Democrat officials from both parties announced talks starting Monday on how to pool resources ahead of the second round.

The poor showing of the Hungarian Justice and Life party lifted the threat of obstacles to EU membership for Hungary, which is pushing to be one of the first former Soviet Bloc countries to join by 2004.

More than 71 percent of the country's 8.1 million eligible voters cast ballots – a record unmatched in any election since the communists announced the end of their more than four-decade dictatorship in 1989.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...6-2002Apr7.html

[Kingnothing]

It would really be great to have a democratically elected socialist government in hungary... but do you no anything about the Hungarian Socialist Party? imean sort of their programs and that sort of stuff, if you pelsase tell me becouse im interested... thanx

[Nateddi]

Yea I read it today on Yahoo news. I wish the socialists best of luck.

[Kez]

Are these socialists the communist party reformed?

comrade kamo

[kingbee]

i think they are kamo. will this start a new trend of left leaning goverments in east europe?