Parliamentary elections in Hungary

It is still unclear after yesterday's parliamentary elections who will form the government. The ruling Social-Liberal coalition is in the lead, but 173 of the 386 mandates are still open. These will be settled in run-off ballots in the ridings where a direct candidate failed to obtain an absolute majority. Peter N. Nagy comments, "The ruling coalition won in the larger centres. In the villages and smaller towns the right-wing conservative opposition party Fidesz took the day. Today voters are not split between the right and the left, but between the openness of the cities or the secludedness of the smaller locations." The Socialists and Liberals want to continue their coalition. But it remains an open question if the smaller centre-right party MDF (Hungarian Democratic Forum) is ready to build a coalition with Fidesz. "The MDF will only form a coalition with Fidesz if opposition leader Viktor Orban does not become prime minister. But is he ready to renounce power? That's not to be ruled out."

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