BUDAPEST—Viktor Orbán and his center-right Fidesz Party won Hungary’s runoff general election Sunday with the widest majority in the country’s postcommunist history—giving the new government sweeping powers to carry out promises that include cutting taxes, streamlining the civil service and boosting social spending as well as granting citizenship to ethnic Hungarians in other countries.
The 46-year-old politician, known for a folksy manner and a love of football, held the prime minister’s office from 1998 to 2002, when the country’s economy was still flourishing. He returns as Hungary is trying to regain its political and economic footing after a near-bankruptcy in 2008, averted by a bailout by the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.
After the Socialist government’s austerity measures, taken to meet IMF requirements for its loan, Mr. Orbán’s vows to reinstate certain social benefits, support Hungarian businesses—and to legalize home distilleries—drew an enthusiastic response from voters, particularly in rural regions. But the spending promises, paired with his pledges to cut taxes, have some citizens and economists worried that the country’s budget deficit could again balloon, flouting IMF and EU guidelines and triggering new fiscal woes.
The people of Hungary have overwhelmingly ‘just said no’ to socialism with the election of Viktor Orbán even as Obama and Geithner edge America closer to it’s seat at the table of the New World Order.
