Hungary’s political situation suddenly looks in flux, after a recent poll found that prime minister Viktor Orban’s party Fidesz popularity plummeted 12 percent in the month of November. In October, the party enjoyed 37 percent support from the voting public, but following the outrage over a planned tax on Internet use and some highly visible corruption embarrassments, this fell to just 25 percent. A researcher for Tarki told Reuters that the result was remarkable. “Domestic and foreign conflicts have reached a level that many people could not ignore further,” Endre Sik said. “The proposed Internet tax had hit a nerve, compounding clashes with the Norwegians and especially the U.S.”
He was referring to Norway’s objection to Orban’s government opposing its support of non-governmental organizations, and the refusal by the United States to issue visas to six Hungarians, including the head of the country’s tax collection agency, on suspicion of corruption. Sources say that not only have regular protests broken out in Budapest, but that people have been gathering in the usually more reserved regional centers.
