Hungary to hold next parliamentary elections under state of emergency

Hungary has extended its state of emergency, which has been in effect for several years, thereby ensuring that the next elections will take place under a special legal regime that has granted Prime Minister Viktor Orbán broad powers to exercise his authority, UNN reports with reference to Bloomberg.

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On Tuesday, the country's parliament voted to extend the state of emergency for 180 days, until May 14. Orbán said he expects the next elections to be held as early as April, and the country's president is expected to announce the date early next year.

Orbán's Fidesz party is trailing the opposition Tisza party, led by former regime supporter Péter Magyar. Tisza maintains a double-digit lead over the ruling party in some polls, as the cost of living crisis and accusations of widespread corruption undermine the nationalist prime minister's political authority, the publication writes.

In a state of emergency, the government can suspend fundamental rights, including the right to protest. Officials claim that this state will not affect the election results.

Last year, Hungary's municipal and European Parliament elections were held under a state of emergency, where Tisza stunned the ruling party by coming in second, including in key regions where the party holds leading positions.

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Orbán has ruled under a state of emergency since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which has allowed him to rule by decree, despite a compliant parliament where his deputies have held a two-thirds majority for most of the past 15 years, the publication notes.

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the government cited the war in the country, which is Hungary's eastern neighbor, as the reason for maintaining the decree regime.

The European Union has suspended billions of euros in funding to Hungary, citing the undermining of the rule of law and corruption in the member state.