Hungary's main center right opposition party Fidesz is expected to make history in round two of parliamentary elections on Sunday. Public opinion polls shows Fidesz could secure a two-thirds majority in Hungarian parliament, despite competition from the ruling and a far right parties. There are 57 constituencies to be contested after no clear winner was declared in the first round on April 11.
Hungary's expected next prime minister, the energetic 46-year old Viktor Orban, urges voters to once again go to the polls Sunday and do what he believes is right for Hungary. He asks them to vote for his Fidesz party.
Orban's Fidesz, with its trade mark orange colors on campaign posters, already won nearly 53 percent of votes in the first round of voting, winning 206 seats of the 386-seat parliament.
Critics have compared Fidesz to an orange soft drink without any vitamins as Orban has said very little on how he wants to fulfill campaign pledges that include creating one million jobs in the next decade and tax cuts.
Yet, with Hungary still recovering of its deepest recession in years, political analysts say most Hungarians want to give Fidesz a chance.
They agree with the latest polls that predicts Fidesz would capture a two-thirds majority in parliament.
Fidesz is expected to face tough opposition from the ruling Socialist party, and the far-right Movement for a Better Hungary, Jobbik, which entered parliament for the first time.
Watching the rise of Fidesz is Sociologist Andras Toth of the influential Budapest-based Institute for Political Science of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He said Fidesz will be forced to make quick changes. "We all know that Hungary has to do major internal reforms. And Fidesz, now in government, has to carry out in many ways those kind of reforms, maybe better, maybe a bit different which it previously opposed between 2006 and 2010. I guess this could have a huge implication on how the Hungarian population will react to the Fidesz and whether they move towards Jobbik, or they accept the reforms or they move towards the left," he said.
Hungary's elections are also closely watched in neighboring nations, including Slovakia, where some 500,000 ethnic Hungarians live.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, whose left leaning party is expected to win June elections, says Fidesz leader Orban's victory could further strain already chilly Slovak-Hungarian ties.
Orban's perceived nationalist election campaign rhetoric included a proposal to grant Hungarian citizenship to Hungarian minorities living beyond the country's borders. Hungary lost some two-thirds of its territory after World War I.
Slovakia based author Peter Huncik, a former adviser of Czech President Vaclav Havel, suggests that Orban's victory will impact Slovakia's upcoming parliamentary poll. "The Slovaks are monitoring the Hungarian situation and the Hungarian card always played an important role in the Slovak political life," he said.
The official results of Hungary's final parliament election round are expected late Sunday.
