BUDAPEST, March 4 (Reuters) – Hungary’s center-right Tisza party leads Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ruling Fidesz party ahead of an April 12 election, two opinion polls showed on Wednesday, while the far-right Our Homeland party is gaining support.
Nationalist Orban faces his biggest challenge to his rule in 16 years, though the outcome remains highly uncertain, with polls showing many voters remain undecided.
A poll conducted by Zavecz Research from February 22 to 28 showed Tisza’s lead among decided voters widening to 12 points from 10 points in January.
The poll, published late on Tuesday by the news website 24.hu, showed that 50% of committed voters backed Tisza, up from 48% in January, while 38% backed Fidesz, down from 39% a month ago.
Zavec’s support for Tisza among all voters was 38%, and Fidesz’s support was 32%.
According to their data, about 20% of respondents said they still didn’t know who to support, down from 23% in February.
Tisza is led by former government insider Peter Magyar, who says his party will curb corruption, unfreeze billions of euros of frozen EU funds to boost the economy and firmly cement Hungary’s place in the EU and NATO.
A second poll for Nepszava newspaper published on Wednesday, conducted by the Public Institute, showed that 47% of committed voters backed Tisza and 39% backed Fidesz, with support for both parties down 1 percentage point since the January poll.
While most opinion polls show Tisza in the lead, Fidesz points out that other surveys still show Tisza heading for victory, although its opponents say these surveys are mainly conducted by institutions with financial or personal ties to the ruling party.
Both polls suggest the far-right Our Fatherland (Mi Hazank) party will be the only party to pass the 5% threshold needed to enter parliament.
Zavecz Research estimates support for “Our Fatherland” among decided voters at 7%, up from 5% a month ago. Publicus said 6% of committed voters support far-right parties, up from 5% in January.
(Reporting by Anita Komuves; Editing by Toby Chopra)
