Europe
2022.04.02 20:57 GMT+8

Hungary's Viktor Orban warns voters it's 'not the time for experimenting'

Updated 2022.04.03 20:13 GMT+8
Trent Murray in Budapest

Current Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been in charge of Hungary since 2010./Attila Kisbendek/AFP/

As Hungarian voters prepare to go to the polls on Sunday in parliamentary elections, the country's main parties have spent much of Friday staging rallies to sure up support from undecided voters. 

The closely watched election will decide whether incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orban will be returned for a fourth successive term. 

Orban held his final pre-election rally in the city of Szekesfehervar, an hour outside of Budapest, late Friday. Speaking to supporters of his nationalist conservative Fidesz party, the 58-year-old said voters faced a choice between a continuation of his policies or chaos led by the opposition.

 

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"I suggest that this is not the time for experimenting. Let's not try new things now, let's rather rely on experience, predictability and our tried and tested representatives," he said. 

Opposition parties join forces 

In an effort to unseat Orban, six opposition parties have joined forces under a big tent coalition called United for Hungary. The group's leader, Peter Marki-Zay, a 49-year-old Mayor, says he wants to end the "corruption" of the Orban Government and help revitalize Hungary's relationship with the European Union. 

The opposition alliance, which consists of parties from across the political spectrum, has pledged more support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Orban has launched attacks on Marki-Zay over those pledges, saying it could see Hungary dragged into the war. 

"The Left thinks that Ukraine fights our war, this is what the leader of our opponents said word by word, that Ukraine fights our war. This is a mistake. This is not our war. In this war, we cannot gain anything but can lose everything," Orban told supporters Friday. 

But speaking to CGTN at a campaign stop in the Budapest suburb of Budaors, opposition leader Marki-Zay rejected the criticism, branding Orban a "puppet" of the Kremlin. 

"Orban has said he is against all sorts of sanctions against Russia, and yet at the last minute, and reluctantly, he agreed and voted for all sanctions in the European Council. Orban says one thing today, lies about it, and does something different tomorrow," said Marki-Zay. 

"He is a puppet of Putin. We want to get rid of the corrupt Fidesz and we want to belong to Europe," he added. 

 

LGBT rights on the ballot 

Hungarian human rights groups are urging voters to spoil their ballots to defeat a separate referendum also taking place Sunday. The Orban government has organized the referendum on the same day as the election, asking for a mandate to enforce laws that limit schools' teaching about homosexuality and transgender issues. 

Under Hungarian law, the proposal cannot be deemed valid without at least 50% of the electorate casting a valid vote, which has led to calls by opponents to spoil ballot papers. Human rights groups say if the referendum passes, there will be an increase in prejudice against Hungary's LGBT community. 

 

Video editor: Bunyamin Kasap

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