By Chris Jones - 10th April 2006
The centre-left coalition led by Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany looks set to win Hungary’s first general election since joining the EU.
Following the first round of voting on Sunday, Gyurcsany’s MSZP has a slender lead over the opposition Fidesz party of former premier Viktor Orban with 43.3 per cent of the vote compared to 42 per cent.
But the 6 per cent garnered by the liberal Free Democrats, the junior partner in the current ruling coalition, should guarantee Gyurcsany an historic second term in office.
No ruling party has won two successive general elections since the end of communism in Hungary in 1989.
Gyurcsany was upbeat after Sunday’s first round of voting, but urged his supporters to redouble their efforts to ensure victory after the second round on April 23.
The possibility of a second term for the centre-left alliance in Budapest was welcomed in Brussels.
“If socialists can form a government following the second round of voting, Hungary will be able to look forward to steady progress to a more prosperous and fair society as well as a bigger influence in the EU,” said Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, president of the centre-left PES group in the European Parliament.
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