Sad commentary on the modern world where my first thought was, well good for Orban to concede defeat. Not all current world heads of state have that much maturity.
This bodes well for the midterm state of the European union.
Pulling a Trump requires a polarized electorate where you are mostly going to have both parties in 48-52% range, with only real fights in few battleground states, and no absurd change in total vote %. Even Trump won't pull a Trump if other party was nearing 2/3rd majority. I am not even sure of what would happen to American politics if a party reaches 2/3rd majority in both houses, a list of long pending reforms might finally become possible.
It's worth noting that the party vote share here was 53% for Tisza vs. 44% for the even-more-right-wing parties. The fact that this results in a two thirds majority is because the electoral system inflates the strongest party. Orbán has previously achieved two thirds majorities multiple times while winning less than 50% of the party vote. Most seats are assigned not through party lists but in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post voting, same as in America. So it's not "convince two thirds of the people to vote for you", it's "convince a very slim plurality in two thirds of the constituencies to vote for you".
I'd like that. But this system is very attractive for the strongest party, so it will be a real test of their commitment to actually representative, multi-party democracy. Also, the general system (a mix of single-member constituencies and party list seats, with more of the former than the latter) isn't a Fidesz invention, it has a long legal tradition in Hungary. So there might be a lot of resistance to a purer party-list system on those grounds too.
Obvious tweaks exist, of course: Even if you keep more individual constituencies than party list seats, they should use some sort of instant runoff/ranked choice/etc. system. But other first past the post countries are dragging their feet on this too, so... we'll see.
It's a bit like computer security: you have to get it right all of the time and the perps mostly only need one shot at being lucky and then it will takes many years to undo the damage.
We should approach democracy more with the kind of insight that go into making computers secure. Oh, wait...
I suspected he would lose when he was recently visited and supported by Vance. Nobody likes Vance (in Europe, and probably anywhere). Getting prominent backing by an unlikable character isn’t a winning strategy.
Amazing news for EU! If Tisza can get supermajority after votes are counted then they can also easily reverse a lot of constitutional corruption in Hungary done by Orban.
Good. I visited Hungary years ago, and I loved the time I spent there. It saddened me a bit to see its sliding into autocracy and being relegated to be a Russian vassal state.
Hopefully the damage Orban caused to Hugarian institutions get reversed.
Unfortunatlely, half democracies (ie representative) are open to abuse and give too much power to presidents or governments. Combined with populism, lobbying and corruption, it allows people like Orban to stay in power for a long time. Glad it's over.
It all seems so easy, despite the efforts of Putin and the US to support a guy that was there for almost two decades. I wonder if the incumbent party is, somehow, in the pocket of those fascists. I have a hard time accepting they’d just shrug and move on from being able to control a puppet state that’s the thorn in EU’s side.
Any reason not to be so cynical? I am unfamiliar with the details of Hungarian politics, but I can’t help wondering if it is staged. And why would Orbán just roll over after all this time in power?
I knew the projections were looking really grim for Orban after watching JD Vance putting Trump on speakerphone five days ago during his Hungary visit. That was awkward.
What? 4$ gas until November Mr.President? Who doesn’t love paying 30% more for Gas out of their pocket for a war that is already won. Tremendous work Mr. President. A capital V victory.
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This bodes well for the midterm state of the European union.
Obvious tweaks exist, of course: Even if you keep more individual constituencies than party list seats, they should use some sort of instant runoff/ranked choice/etc. system. But other first past the post countries are dragging their feet on this too, so... we'll see.
We should approach democracy more with the kind of insight that go into making computers secure. Oh, wait...
Hopefully the damage Orban caused to Hugarian institutions get reversed.
Unfortunatlely, half democracies (ie representative) are open to abuse and give too much power to presidents or governments. Combined with populism, lobbying and corruption, it allows people like Orban to stay in power for a long time. Glad it's over.
Any reason not to be so cynical? I am unfamiliar with the details of Hungarian politics, but I can’t help wondering if it is staged. And why would Orbán just roll over after all this time in power?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GUoCvIMrgc
They must be really tired of winning by now.
What? 4$ gas until November Mr.President? Who doesn’t love paying 30% more for Gas out of their pocket for a war that is already won. Tremendous work Mr. President. A capital V victory.