(Reuters) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ruling Fidesz party has maintained its lead over an opposition alliance as a national election nears, according to latest opinion polls.
A Median poll, conducted in late March and published by website Hvg.hu on Wednesday, put support for the nationalist Fidesz ahead of the April 3 election at 40%, up from 39% in Median’s late February survey.
The six-party opposition alliance stood at 32%, with about 20% of voters still undecided.
In a separate survey by pollster Zavecz Research conducted between March 21 and 27 and published late on Tuesday, Fidesz had 39% support and the opposition alliance 36%. Among decided voters, Fidesz had 50% while the opposition stood at 46%, Zavecz said, predicting a close race.
Orban faces a united opposition for the first time since taking office in a 2010 election landslide. Its candidate for prime minister is Peter Marki-Zay, an independent who is currently mayor of Hodmezovasarhely, a town in southern Hungary.
Median said that among Fidesz voters, 37% believed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was unjustified, while 43% said it was justified. Over the entire electorate, the respective percentages were 55% and 28%.
Orban has condemned Russia’s attack but avoided personal criticism of President Vladimir Putin.
He has also refused to allow the delivery of arms to Ukraine via Hungary and is strongly opposed to sanctions on Russian energy, saying that would wreck a domestic economy reliant on Russian gas and oil.
DATE AGENCY FIDESZ OPPOSITION UNDECIDED
Late March Median 40 32 20
March 21-27 Zavecz 39 36 19
March 23-25 Zavecz 41 39 16
March 16-18 Republikon 41 39 16
March 2-11 IDEA 40 37 11
Feb 18-24 Republikon 40 39 16
Feb 22-26 Median 39 32 20
Jan 31-Feb 9 IDEA 38 34 13
Feb 2-10 Zavecz 38 36 20
Jan 20-25 Republikon 36 34 22
Jan 4-14 IDEA 39 37 10
Dec 4-7 Median 39 34 13
Dec 9-14 Republikon 33 36 24
Nov 2-12 Zavecz 37 41 14
Nov 2-3 Nezopont 56 42 2
Oct 25-29 Republikon 32 38 30
Oct 11-19 Zavecz 35 39 23
Sept 29-Oct 4 Median 37 37 17
Oct Szazadveg 50 44 6
Sept Zavecz 37 38 23
Sept 20-21 Nezopont 53 45 N/A
Aug 23-25 Nezopont 52 46 N/A
(Reporting by Anita Komuves and Krisztina Than; editing by John Stonestreet)
