Worried rural voters in Hungary to decide Orbán's fate

(Patria) - In the village of Pusztavacs in central Hungary, election posters on electricity poles remind voters of the upcoming elections, where the future of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is at stake.

Small towns, villages and hamlets (home to about half of this Central European nation's 9.5 million inhabitants) have long been a bastion of the ruling Fidesz party. Analysts say the April 12 elections will be decided in the countryside.

But the rise of charismatic challenger Péter Magyar, whose party is leading in opinion polls, has shaken Orbán's influence in the countryside in what has been dubbed a rural "political awakening" amid economic stagnation and major scandals.

"I'm really worried about who would be better... I'll keep thinking about it," Eva Batta told AFP near a shop on the outskirts of Pusztavacs.

The 71-year-old, who can no longer work to supplement her pension after an operation, said she felt the economy had worsened during Orbán's last term.

She also "fears war" raging in neighboring Ukraine since Russia's 2022 invasion.
Orbán has campaigned to stoke such fears, flooding media, largely controlled by his business allies, with claims that the European Union and his rival want to drag Hungary into conflict, which both Brussels and the opposition deny.

Orbán "provides"

Orbán has repeatedly made overtures to rural communities, claiming that for his government, "the village is not the past, but the future".

Pusztavacs, with about 1,300 inhabitants, received state support for the renovation of its cemetery and church, and last year its first ATM as part of the government's law to install ATMs in all villages.

Locals like Zsolt Szarnya are grateful to Orbán. The 48-year-old firefighter, who serves in the army, felt that both the village and the whole country had stagnated before the nationalist leader returned to power in 2010.

"Construction was booming," he told AFP before withdrawing money, attributing the rise to various family support programs.

"Orbán doesn't take, he provides," said Maria Balogh, 86.

She feared that the Hungarian party Tisza would tax her pension, repeating a claim published in pro-Fidesz media, but which courts have found unfounded and defamatory.

The elections will be "one hundred percent" decided in the countryside, according to Matyas Bodi, an analyst at the Electoral Geography website.

He compared Hungary's declared goal of "system change" to a "Himalayan expedition", where urban constituencies represent only the "base camp", and the rural ones are needed for victory.

Aware of this, Magyar has highlighted the "conservative and nationalist elements" of his party's values that appeal to rural voters, said sociologist Imre Kovach of the ELTE University Centre for Social Sciences, noting a "political awakening" in the countryside.

Magyar's main message about wanting to fight what he claims is the endemic corruption of Orbán's government and its allies also resonates.

"I voted for Fidesz before and I regretted it," said a middle-aged volunteer reservist in Pusztavacs, refusing to give his full name for fear of reprisal. He added that local support for the opposition had "grown".

Several other residents also told AFP they planned to vote for Tisza.
Laszlo Budavari (69), a pensioner, said he would vote for Tisza because Magyar "wants to do things differently in this corrupt country".

He said the "worst thing" was that his three daughters had all said they planned to emigrate if Orbán was elected for a fifth consecutive term next month.

"Viktor," Budavari said, pretending to address the prime minister, "my daughters are leaving me here alone."

"You really messed this up."