Hungary's opposition Socialists began talks today on forming a coalition ready to govern after taking a surprise lead in first round legislative elections in the leading EU candidate country.
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HUNGARY: Prime Minister Viktor Orban Photograph: Reuters
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The Socialists, who were ousted by conservative Prime Minister Mr Viktor Orban in 1998, will have to wait for a second round of voting on April 21 for a definitive result, but analysts say they are clear favourites to gain power.
Mr Orban's conservative Fidesz party said all was not lost for the second round, it is running slightly behind the Socialists and has no potential coalition partners.
"Fidesz is confident that we can turn the vote around in the second round," said the right-wing party's president, Mr Zoltan Pokorni, adding that the rural vote would be crucial.
But most analysts disagree. "The victory of a Socialist-liberal coalition has become highly likely," said expert Mr Attila Agh.
Hungary has the most booming economy in central Europe and hopes to join the EU by 2004. But the Socialists claim the boom has benefited only part of society, leaving a huge gap between the haves and have-nots.
On Sunday the Socialists won 42 per cent of the vote against 41 per cent for Fidesz, while the SZDSZ scored 5.55 per cent. Under Hungary's election system, the most complicated in Europe, some 185 of the 386 parliamentary seats were decided Sunday, while the rest will be decided in the second round.
Sunday's ballot also dealt the far-right Party of Justice and Life (MIEP), which Western diplomats had feared could scrape into a coalition government with Fidesz. MIEP won 4.36 percent of the popular vote, less than the crucial five percent floor required to win parliamentary seats.
The first round polls were marked by a record 71 percent turnout, the highest in the four elections held in post-Communist Hungary since 1989.
AFP