Support For Hungary's Fidesz Rises To Unprecedented Highs In March

Among eligible voters, the ruling Socialist Party (MSZP) “enjoys" a 16% support and 24% of decided voters find them more attractive than Fidesz, the latest poll of Szonda Ipsos showed on Wednesday.

Support for Fidesz among eligible voters rose by 4% in one month's time, which should probably be attributed to the outcome of the referendum on 9 March (on the abolishment of three unpopular reform measures of the government), a landslide “victory" for the opposition party. 

In the meantime, both the self-confidence and the appetite to vote of the Socialists' supporters have eroded and now the party has only a 24% support among decided voters, while 67% of them would vote for Fidesz. The position of both junior governing coalition member, the liberal Free Democrats (SZDSZ) and smaller opposition party, the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF), worsened - among eligible voters at the former and among decided voters at the latter. 

Among eligible voters Fidesz has enjoyed a support of over 30% ever since the summer of 2006 and scored 33% on average in 2007. Its circle of sympathisers have widened even further in 2008, reaching 35% in February and 39% in March. This means Fidesz can, in theory, count on the votes of over 3 million people of the nearly 8 million eligible voters of Hungary. Among decided voters it can - also in theory - bag 2.5 million votes, having scored a 67% support in March. 



The Socialists currently boast a 16% support among eligible voters, which has hardly changes since last autumn. The party's support among the 60+ age group diminished from around 30% to 22%, which makes the advantage of Fidesz more pronounced even in this category (32%)."

Source: Portfolio Online Financial Journal