Viktor Orbán, the former Prime Minister of Hungary, acknowledged his defeat at the parliamentary elections on Sunday evening, calling the outcome “clear and painful”. This came shortly after his opponent, Péter Magyar, shared a post on Facebook claiming that Orbán had personally called to congratulate him on the victory. Magyar wrote, “Thank you very much, Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has just called to congratulate us on our victory”.
Preliminary figures released by the national election office indicate that Magyar’s party, Tisza, is leading significantly. With a reported 60.24 percent of the votes, Tisza is currently projected to claim 136 out of 199 seats, a majority large enough to potentially amend the nation’s constitution.
Orbán’s party, Fidesz, which previously secured 135 seats alongside its government ally KDNP, is expected to suffer a major loss, dropping to 56 parliamentary seats. Meanwhile, Mi Hazánk Mozgalom is predicted to increase its representation to 7 seats.
The allocation of the 199 seats in the Hungarian Parliament is complex: 106 seats are awarded via first votes in single constituencies using a simple majority. The remaining 93 mandates are determined by considering both list votes and any votes received by candidates who were defeated in their direct constituency elections, as well as the margin by which the winning candidates achieved their victory over the runners-up.
