An indirect presidential election was held in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
on 29 June 2010. The Prime Minister's nominee
Pál Schmitt
Pál Schmitt (; born 1942) is a Hungarian Olympic fencer and politician who served as President of Hungary from 2010 until his resignation in 2012, following his academic misconduct controversy.
Schmitt was a successful fencer in his ...
was elected by an absolute majority.
Background
Following the
2010 Hungarian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 11 and 25 April 2010 to elect the members of the National Assembly. They were the sixth free elections since the end of the communist era. 386 Members of Parliament (MPs) were elected in a combined ...
, Fidesz came out with an overwhelming majority of seats. With a two-thirds majority requirement needed to elect the president, Fidesz was expected to win since it already had the necessary numbers.
Candidates
Nominations were due by midday of 25 June 2010; the
Hungarian Socialist Party
The Hungarian Socialist Party ( hu, Magyar Szocialista Párt), commonly known by its acronym MSZP, is a centre-left social-democratic and pro-European political party in Hungary.
It was founded on 7 October, 1989 as a post-communist evolution a ...
nominated university lecturer and Hungarian ambassador to
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
András Balogh
András Balogh (born 6 March 1944) is a Hungarian historian, diplomat, and former ambassador to Thailand. His party, the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) nominated him to the position of President of Hungary in 2010. During a parliamental elec ...
on 6 June 2010.
Fidesz
Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán.
It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...
nominated speaker of parliament
Pál Schmitt
Pál Schmitt (; born 1942) is a Hungarian Olympic fencer and politician who served as President of Hungary from 2010 until his resignation in 2012, following his academic misconduct controversy.
Schmitt was a successful fencer in his ...
on 23 June 2010.
Jobbik
The Movement for a Better Hungary ( hu, Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom), commonly known as Jobbik (), is a conservative political party in Hungary.
Originating with radical and nationalist roots, at its beginnings, the party described itself ...
intended to nominate
Krisztina Morvai
Krisztina Morvai (born 22 June 1963) is a Hungarian lawyer and nationalist politician. She was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), having been elected on the list of the political party Jobbik – Movement for a Better Hungary in the 200 ...
, and
Politics Can Be Different
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
wished to nominate incumbent President
László Sólyom
László Sólyom ( hu, Sólyom László, ; born 3 January 1942) is a Hungarian political figure, lawyer, and librarian who was President of Hungary from 2005 until 2010. Previously he was Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of Hungary f ...
, but neither had enough MPs to respectively do so.
Once elected, the new president would take office on 5 August 2010.
Popular poll
Most Hungarians said they didn't think the President should be a member of any party. Forty-eight percent of respondents said that the president's independence from the government is among the most important considerations for the office, though 46 percent said it is also important that the president be able to work well with the prime minister.
However, polling suggested that should the election be a popular one, Schmitt would get 32 percent of the vote, outgoing President
László Sólyom
László Sólyom ( hu, Sólyom László, ; born 3 January 1942) is a Hungarian political figure, lawyer, and librarian who was President of Hungary from 2005 until 2010. Previously he was Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of Hungary f ...
would get 24 percent, Socialist Party nominee András Balogh would get 14 percent and Jobbik's Krisztina Morvai would get 6 percent. Twenty-four percent said they would not vote for any of the candidates or declined to answer the question.
Results
Reactions
Several Fidesz MP's expressed concern over the electoral outcome saying that though Schmitt was "a charmer and very capable person," they didn't feel he was right for the job because any mistake he may make would reflect poorly on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán
Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian politician who has served as prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has presided over Fidesz since 1993, with a brief break between 20 ...
, who had selected him.
The President of the European Parliament
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Automobiles
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Jerzy Buzek
Jerzy Karol Buzek (born 3 July 1940) is a Polish politician and Member of the European Parliament from Poland. He has served as Prime Minister of Poland from 1997 to 2001, since being elected to the European Parliament in 2004, he served as Pre ...
welcomed the election of Schmitt.
References
{{Hungarian presidential elections
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
2010 elections in Europe
2010 in Hungary