Hot Issue Nr. 317

Local Elections in Hungary, 12. October 2014:

Fidesz remains undefeated on Municipal Level

The ruling party in Hungary Fidesz-KDNP won the municipal elections, the second strongest political force in the country is the far-right Jobbik, whereas left-wing parties or alliances emerge only in the capital and rarely elsewhere. The Green Party and other parties had no chance. The turnout was one of the weakest after the political change in 1990.

István Tarlós (Fidesz) remains Mayor of Budapest with 49 percent of the votes. The left-wing candidate Lajos Bokros gains 36% and comes in second place with his newly founded party MoMa (Modern movement Hungary). Jobbik, the Greens and Liberals are far behind with less than 10 percent of the votes. In Budapest 17 of the 23 district mayors will be occupied by Fidesz, one district goes to a civil list, five to the Social Democrats MSZP, the left-liberal DK, the center-left movement of E-PM or an alliance. The Budapest City Assembly is therefore composed of 20 seats for Fidesz and 12 seats for the democratic opposition. Of this, 5 seats for the MSZP, 2 seats for E.PM, 2 for DK, and one seat each for MSZP-DK-E-PM-alliance, the civil list and the green-liberal LMP. In addition, a mandate goes to Jobbik.

In 18 of 19 county assemblies Fidesz-KDNP has managed to reach an absolute majority. Only in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén it has a relative majority. Jobbik forms the second strongest force in 15 counties. In most of the communities “independent” mayors won the elections, but the vast majority is supported by Fidesz. The Socialist MSZP positions 19 mayors nationwide, the left-wing coalition 9, the DK positions 3 mayors, the E-PM 2.
The far-right Jobbik won 13 mayoral offices and around 10 more by independent candidates, but who are clearly connected to the Jobbik party. Jobbik has not only performed well in its strongholds in the East and North-East of Hungary, but also won two municipalities in the counties Pest, Heves and Veszprém and one each in Zala, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Jász- Nagykun-Szolnok, Vas, Hajdú-Bihar and Csongrád.
19 of the 23 cities without county rank (all cities over 50,000 inhabitants) go to Fidesz-KDNP. In Szeged, the MSZP-incumbent remains in office, Békéscsaba (64,000 E.) falls to an independent candidate supported by Jobbik.

The left parties are disappointed with the strong result for Fidesz, especially the LMP has to overthink its strategy. They distanced themselves from both blocks, which had no positive effect but rather harmed the opposition. The 36% for Bokros (MoMA) in Budapest show that a new party (founded in 2013) can still keep up with the powerful Fidesz party, even though it has no clear party structure yet.
The turnout was 42.92%, the second weakest turnout since the political change in 1990. A development is needed, even though the feeling of helplessness outweighs the will of change because of the centralised structure in Hungary.

Source: http://www.pesterlloyd.net/html/1442kommunalwahl14hu.html

Decentralisation and subnational self-government will be the special focus of the enlargement opinion

The current autonomy of the Province of Vojvodina was the main topic of the discussions between Bojan Pajtic and Franz Schausberger in Brussels. Franz Schausberger was recently appointed rapporteur on the EU-enlargement strategy and pointed out that decentralisation and regional/local self-government in Serbia will be the special focus of his opinion on the enlargement strategy.

from left: Sinisa Lazic (Direktor EU-Funds), Franz Schausberger, Bojan Pajtic, Michaela Petz-Michez (Head of Liaison Office Salzburg-Brussels), Branislav Bugarski

IRE-President Franz Schausberger attended a reception on the occasion of the traditional „Vojvodina Day“ in Brussels on 6 October. Schausberger met Mr Bojan Pajtic, President of the Government of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (APV), Mr. Slavica Grujic, Vice President of APV-Government and Branislav Bugarski, Member of the Government of APV for interregional Cooperation and Local Self-Government. Mr. Slavica Grujic, Member of government responsible for Culture and Public Information, opened an exhibition of paintings by Milan Konjovic (1898 – 1993): „Vojvodina: Landscapes and People“ and publications on the culture and art of Vojvodina.

MILAN KONJOVIĆ, Green fields, 1946.