Word: orban
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Dates: during 2010-2019
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After two terms in power for the Socialists, known as MSzP, the center-right Fidesz party had long been favored to win this election. Fidesz, led by Viktor Orban, captured 52.8% of the vote, compared to just 19.3% for MSzP. But hardships fostered by the economic crisis upset the political status quo by giving sudden rise to the far-right Jobbik party, which won an unprecedented 16.7% of the vote to finish in a close third. (See pictures of immigration in Europe...
...With Fidesz's simple parliamentary majority assured even before the second round of voting, Orban will not have to form a coalition with Jobbik in order to rule - a prospect feared by many during the campaign. But Jobbik will undoubtedly still have influence in national affairs. "It is not clear what Orban will do to neutralize Jobbik," says Alex Kuli, an analyst for the Budapest-based consultancy Political Capital. "Will he cooperate with Jobbik and risk international criticism, or will he try to outdo them on some of their right-wing issues? He's going to have a tough time...
...This is certainly true. Sunday's results were a vindication for Orban, who has waited in the wings of power since his last term as Prime Minister from 1998-2002. But he resumes office at perhaps the most difficult juncture in Hungary's post-communist years. As soon-to-be leader of a country with one of the weakest economies in the European Union, Orban will have no choice but to continue the unpopular austerity measures of the outgoing Socialists - policies that Fidesz had largely opposed while in opposition. "Orban is going to have to make some hard decisions," Kuli...
...Csaba argues, however, that Orban is in a strong position to make unpopular choices and survive. "Fidesz has made a transformation over the past two or three years into a mainstream conservative party," he says. "They are all about fiscal discipline. I don't think they will make a U-turn from the reform policies of the current government. They made no populist promises during the campaign. These [promises] were made by Jobbik...