Hungarian population satisfied with PM Orban’s political activity

An overwhelming majority of Hungarian citizens are satisfied with the activity of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is far more popular with voters than his rivals from the political opposition camp.

The issue finds itself in a public opinion poll held on March 27-29 by the Center for Fundamental Rights, a Budapest-based research organization, on the anniversary of the country's last parliamentary elections, TASS reports.

"Viktor Orban enjoys the support of 58 percent of voters, while his rival in last year's election [opposition party coalition candidate] Peter Marki-Zay can count on the support of only 18 percent," the survey authors said. They noted that the head of government "enjoys greater support in all social groups than his former rival".

According to sociologists, this is due to Orban's "peace-loving stance" on the conflict in Ukraine, as well as the government's efforts to save jobs, fight inflation and help the least protected segments of the population.

A recent survey organised by the Budapest-based political science institute Nezopont yielded similar results. It showed that if elections to Hungary's State Assembly (unicameral parliament) were held now, the ruling FIDES-Hungarian Civic Union party, together with its junior partners, the Christian Democrats, would win more than half of the seats in parliament, well ahead of major rivals, including the Democratic Coalition party, led by former prime minister (2004-2009) Ferenc Gyurcsany.

In the last elections, held on April 3, 2022, FIDES and the Christian Democrats won 135 of the 199 seats in the national parliament. This allowed Orban to stay on as prime minister for another four years. He has been Prime Minister for three consecutive terms since 2010, having previously served as Prime Minister from 1998 to 2002.