BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary’s opposition Tisza party has a small lead over the ruling Fidesz party, according to an opinion poll published on Thursday, the second survey in a row that showed Tisza overtaking Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party.
Centre-right Tisza’s leader Peter Magyar, 43, a former government insider, swept into Hungarian politics before June’s European Parliament elections, mounting a serious challenge to Orban and capitalising on discontent with other opposition parties that have proven divided and ineffective against Fidesz in the past 14 years.
On Wednesday, a Tisza party rally in Budapest attracted a crowd of over 10,000 people as the country marked the anniversary of the 1956 revolt against Soviet domination that was crushed by the Red Army.
In a speech at the rally, Magyar announced steps to prepare his party and choose its candidates for elections in 2026.
He pledged to root out corruption, invest in healthcare and education, and start a “national dialogue” with voters from Nov. 5, just as Orban’s government prepares to send out nationwide surveys to millions of Hungarians on its economic programme. The economy is struggling to recover from an inflation crisis.
The poll published on Thursday by the Publicus Institute think tank, conducted between Oct. 11-18, showed that Tisza had 39% support among decided voters while Fidesz had 37%.
“Here is more research that shows the Fidesz-Tisza race almost a tie. It’s worth noting: in the EP elections, Fidesz (led) 45%-30%, compared to that, this would be a very serious change,” political analyst Gabor Torok said on his blog.
Another poll on Wednesday, conducted in the first half of October by the 21 Research Center, a Budapest-based think-tank, showed Tisza with 42% support among decided voters, with Fidesz at 40%. As for the electorate as a whole, Fidesz still led with 29% support, 3% ahead of Tisza. Two other recent polls showed Fidesz with a shrinking lead over Tisza.
In all polls, around 30% of voters are undecided.
Orban, whose rightwing government has opposed the EU’s policy of providing military aid to Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, and has also maintained good ties with the Kremlin, said on Wednesday that his sovereign policies relating to the Ukraine war and migration were unacceptable to Brussels, accusing the EU executive of political meddling.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than)