An international watchdog has released a report on Hungary’s general election and referendum, citing multiple issues in the electoral process.
On Sunday (April 3), citizens of Hungary went to the polls to vote in two major electoral events: the referendum on LGBTQI issues relating to minors, and the general election, which saw incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orbán win a supermajority.
Kari Henriksen, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)’s special coordinator from the Norwegian parliament, told reporters on Monday that while both events were well administrated and professionally managed, they were “marred by the absence of a level playing field”.
In February, the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) announced it would heed public calls for a full-scale election monitoring mission for Hungary’s upcoming elections, instead of the “limited” observation mission typical for EU countries.
The report was based on the elections observation mission by the 91-observer strong OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegates, hailing from 27 member states, as well as 200 temporary observers of ODIHR.
In the lead up to the elections, commentators warned that elections were unlikely to be fair as a result of changes to the electoral law, address registration rules, misuse of administrative resources, campaign finance transparency issues, and the overwhelming dominance of Fidesz over the media.
‘Polarising messaging and personal attacks’
The OSCE’s report found that the general election campaign was marked by transparency issues and insufficient oversight of financing, which ultimately benefitted the party of Orbán, Fidesz.
Though the participants could campaign freely, the proceedings were “highly negative in tone”, Henriksen said, pointing also to unbalanced news coverage and the absence of open political debates since Fidesz refused to take part in public head-to-heads with the coalition.
Throughout his campaign, lead opposition coalition candidate Péter Márki-Zay, was given just five minutes to speak on public television – the amount mandated by law.
While praising smooth procedural aspects, the foreign observers criticised how electoral disputes were handled by the election commissions and courts, stating that they “fell short of providing effective legal remedy”.
“For voters to be able to make an informed choice, it is fundamental that contestants have equal access to the media and informative campaigns, rather than the focus on polarising messaging and personal attacks which have, unfortunately, been observed here”, Henriksen said.
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Improving trust in the electoral process
Mark Pritchard, the conservative British MP who led the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, said that old issues persisted and encouraged the next government to act on the recommendations.
At the very least, he said, “allowing citizens to engage in independent election observation will do much to improve trust in the electoral process”. Currently, only party delegates can participate as domestic election monitors.
In the run-up to the elections, Orbán accused the OSCE of transforming from an instrument of peace into a “militant institution”. Asked to respond to these comments, Pritchard said “the OSCE was invited by the Hungarian government, we didn’t gatecrash, we didn’t just turn up”.
Emphasising the political diversity of the election observation members, the UK politician added: “what we have here … is a very, very broad church on the left and the right. So I reject that particular charge in its entirety.”
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Former Canadian ambassador Jillian Stirk, who headed the election observation mission, was also critical of what the government called the “child protection” referendum.
“The law does not guarantee equal opportunity for supporters and opponents of the proposal, and, contrary to good practice, does not prescribe the neutrality of the public authorities,” she said, emphasising the lack of objective and balanced information on the referendum.
The controversial vote had been widely condemned as a thinly veiled attack on Hungary’s LGBTQI community.
Pressed by journalists if the mission could say the elections were “free”, Stirk said: “we sometimes say that ‘free and fair’ is a bit of a shorthand, because it doesn’t take into account the overall assessment. The judgement for an election is really [a task] for the people of the country – in this case, for the people of Hungary.”
[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
Source: euractiv.com
