The point being missed in the reporting of the results of the Hungarian referendum is that the 43.9% turnout, which made the referendum result invalid under the Hungarian constitution’s 50% minimum vote rule, was not a sign of voter apathy, as may have been in the case of the EU membership referendum in Britain. In Hungary, the overwhelming majority of the political parties opposed to the ruling Fidesz and the even more rightwing Jobbik positively campaigned for people to abstain as an act of protest or spoil their ballots (something enough people appear to have done to bring the valid votes actually down below 40% of the country’s total electorate).
So despite the vast government propaganda effort, which besides its vicious overtones is estimated to have cost far more per head than not just its counterpart in Britain’s EU referendum campaign but also the media spending projected in the US presidential election; and contrary to Orban’s claim of victory, the result is quite a triumph for the opposition. No wonder Orban felt desperate enough to pledge altering the validity rule – which he himself had inserted into the constitution to undermine the chances of a successful referendum challenge to government policies – so as to lend legal force, post facto, to the result he got.
Paul Neuburg
London
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