Hungary election: Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party hopes for third straight term
April 8, 2018 by admin
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Viktor Orban and his wife Aniko Levai voting
Voting is under way in Hungary, with opinion polls pointing to a third consecutive term for Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Mr Orban and his right-wing Fidesz party are 20 points or more ahead of the far-right Jobbik party and the centre-left Socialists.
Polling stations opened at 06:00 local time (04:00 GMT) on Sunday and will close at 19:00.
Preliminary results are expected one or two hours after voting ends.
While Fidesz is expected to win a parliamentary majority, analysts are eyeing the turnout and whether Mr Orban’s party loses its “supermajority”.
This is the two-thirds control of the 199-seat legislature that has allowed Fidesz to pass controversial laws putting pressure on the judiciary and the press.
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What are Viktor Orban’s policies?
Mr Orban refused to publicly debate with his opponents during the campaign or speak to the independent media, speaking instead at rallies for his supporters.
These addresses focused on one core policy – stopping immigration.
“Migration is like rust that slowly but surely would consume Hungary,” Mr Orban said at his final rally on Friday.
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Mr Orban hammered home his anti-immigration stance at a number of campaign rallies
Under Mr Orban, Hungary built a fence along its borders with Serbia and Croatia in 2015 to stop illegal migrants.
His anti-immigration measures and tough rhetoric have seen him clash with the European Union in the past.
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Mr Orban is an avowed Eurosceptic who opposes further EU integration. He refused to take part in the EU’s refugee resettlement programme, and he has praised Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
If he wins, as is likely, Mr Orban has promised to cut income tax and pass pro-growth economic policies.
His administration has presided over strong economic growth, which he says would be threatened under the opposition.
Who are the opposition parties?
A poll on Friday put Fidesz on 46% among decided voters, more than 20 points ahead of their nearest rivals Jobbik, on 19%.
Formerly a far-right group who agitated against Hungary’s Roma community, Jobbik has tried to claim the centre ground in recent years.
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Jobbik leader Gabor Vona addressed supporters at an event commemorating the 1848-49 Hungarian revolution
Rebranding itself as a moderate “conservative people’s party”, its leader Gabor Vona has called for a change in government and railed against Mr Orban.
“Viktor Orban is a burnt-out politician, interested only in corruption and football,” he once said.
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The centre-left Socialists meanwhile were on 14% in Friday’s poll and not thought to pose a threat to Fidesz.
However, one-third of voters remain undecided, and an upset is not being ruled out.
In February, the southern town of Hodmezovasarhely elected a mayor backed by all the main opposition parties. It had been considered a Fidesz stronghold.
Analysts believe a high turnout could benefit the opposition, and tactical voting could in theory strip Fidesz of its 133-seat domination of Hungary’s parliament.
However, given his commanding lead in the polls, an outright defeat for Mr Orban is unlikely.
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German police try to work out motive for Muenster attack
April 8, 2018 by admin
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BERLIN (Reuters) – German investigators were trying to work out why a man drove a camper van into a group of people sitting outside a restaurant in the western university city of Muenster on Saturday, killing two people before shooting himself dead.
The vehicle ploughed into people seated at tables outside the Grosser Kiepenkerl eatery, a popular destination for tourists in the city’s old town.
Forensic police combed the scene on Sunday after investigators named the victims as a 51-year-old woman from the Lueneburg area in northern Germany and a 65-year-old man from the Borken area near Muenster.
“According to the current state of the investigation, the driver is probably a 48-year-old man from Munich,” senior public prosecutor Martin Botzenhardt said in a joint statement with Muenster police.
“So far there are no indications of a possible background for the crime. The investigations are being conducted at full speed and on all fronts,” he added.
The perpetrator shot himself after crashing the silver-grey coloured van into the outside area of the restaurant, police said.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported in its online edition that the perpetrator was Jens R., 48, who resided some 2 km (1.2 miles) from the crime scene.
Broadcaster ZDF said police were searching his apartment and that he had contact with far-right extremists, but there was no evidence thus far that he was a far-right extremist himself.
The Sueddeutsche Zeitung said the man had psychological problems. The Interior Ministry in North Rhine-Westphalia would neither confirm nor deny the report.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a statement she was “deeply shaken”. On Saturday evening, the White House issued a statement sending U.S. President Donald Trump’s “thoughts and prayers” to the families of those killed.
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: “All my thoughts are with the victims of the attack in Muenster. France shares in Germany’s suffering”.
Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Susan Fenton