Hungary election: Early results show Magyar’s Tisza ahead of Orban’s Fidesz

Peter Magyar’s upstart party on course to win victory.

Preliminary official results in Hungary’s parliamentary election show Peter Magyar’s opposition Tisza party leading, with longtime Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party in second place.

With 37 percent of the vote counted, the centre-right Tisza had 51 percent support to 40 percent for Fidesz party.

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The partial count showed Tisza ahead in 95 of Hungary’s 106 constituencies, with the party projected to win more than 130 mandates in the 199-seat parliament.

Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen, reporting from the capital, Budapest, said that 100 seats are needed to secure a majority in Hungary’s parliament.

The National Election Office said turnout by 6:30pm was more than 77 percent, a record number in any election in Hungary’s post-Communist history.

Magyar said he and his Tisza party were “cautiously confident”.

“I’m asking our supporters and all Hungarians: Let’s stay peaceful, cheerful, and if the results confirm our expectations, let’s throw a big, Hungarian carnival,” he said.