Voters turn out for Hungary's parliamentary run-offs

Hungarians went to the polls today in a run-off parliamentary election that could deliver a small majority to the governing coalition led by Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, which would make it the first post-communist administration to win re-election.

Both the coalition parties as well as the opposition centre-right Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Union were fighting for votes in 110 districts where run-offs were being held because no candidate won an outright majority in the first round of voting held April 9.

Then the coalition won 113 seats of the 386 in the legislature, compared with 99 for two opposition parties.

By lunchtime, 45% of eligible voters had cast ballots, compared with 48.9% by the same hour in the first round, the National Election Office said.

It will take several days until the votes of almost 6,000 Hungarians eligible to cast ballots abroad are counted, so in case of a close election, a definite result may be delayed until then.

The drive to win over voters was fierce until a campaigning ban went into effect at midnight on Friday, with the Socialists and Fidesz repeatedly accusing each other of unlawful tactics.

The socialists said Fidesz was trying to win the support of small extremist parties that are considered anti-Semitic and was inciting its activists to knowingly break campaign rules.

Fidesz leader Viktor Orban said the Socialists had urged voters to shun a wheelchair-bound conservative candidate because of his disability and had distributed misleading voting slips in key districts where runoffs will be held.

Prime Minister Gyurcsany said his main objectives if he should win re-election would be to provide citizens with peace and security in their everyday lives, while improving Hungary’s economic competitiveness.

“I would like to create more unity than we’ve had,” Gyurcsany said after voting at a school in the Buda hills.

After casting his ballot accompanied by his wife, Orban said he was confident a high turnout would benefit Fidesz.

No matter who wins the elections, the next government faces a tough challenge posed by a huge budget deficit – the largest in the European Union compared to the size of the economy – and mounting pressure from the EU for economic reforms paving the way for adopting the euro.

Gyurcsany, 44, came to power in September 2004, after Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy was forced from office by the coalition parties, concerned about his lack of leadership and the

government’s unpopularity.

A communist youth leader in the 1980s who later became one of Hungary’s richest businessmen, Gyurcsany has vowed to implement structural reforms and get Hungary ready to adopt the euro in 2010.

“The next four years will be the most exciting in Hungarian politics,” Gyurcsany said in a radio interview Friday, adding that people could expect “the most comprehensive set of reforms” since the 1990 return to democracy.

Orban has warned that four more years for the current government would bring budget cuts, higher unemployment and price increases.

“Anyone who understands economics knows radical budget restrictions are in the works,” Orban said.

Most pollsters predict that the coalition parties will win about 205 seats, against 181 for the centre-right opposition.

Should the Socialists get more than half of the 386 seats in parliament, Gyurcsany said they would govern without their current coalition partners, the Alliance of Free Democrats. It would be the first time since 1990 that Hungary has a one-party government.