Dramatic Fall In Fidesz Support

  • 27 Nov 2014 8:00 AM
Dramatic Fall In Fidesz Support
Fidesz’s loss of popularity in the past month is the party’s most dramatic decline in the past 14 years, senior researcher Endre Sík of Tárki pollsters said yesterday. The research group found that Fidesz’s support fell from 37% of the population in October to 25% this month, according to a survey conducted November 13-23.

Not even the Socialist Party suffered such a loss of popularity in one month since 2006, Sík observed.

However, it is too early to speak of a trend, he stressed.

The loss in popularity “is in all likelihood a consequence of recent domestic and international political conflicts”, Tárki remarked in a statement

Sík said criticism from the US rather than Norway hurt Fidesz, as the US is a superpower whose word counts for much, and the Hungarian public is clearly aware of that.

Among domestic causes, Sík said the idea of the internet tax, which unleashed mass demonstrations, was the most significant.

The three elections won this year perhaps made Fidesz too confident and the party did not expect the internet tax plan to provoke such a large and immediate protest, he added.

In addition, Sík continued, the government miscalculated in the matter of regulating RTL Klub, as reports of general discontent now reach a wider range of people through the commercial television station.

Fidesz remains the most popular party despite losing so much of its support.

Those leaving the party behind add the number of undecided voters. The undecided rose from 34% to 44% among eligible voters.

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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