Opposition vows end to Orban’s autocratic rule in Hungary

By JUSTIN SPIKE
Associated Press

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Opposition parties made their final appeal to Hungarian voters ahead of Sunday’s fiercely fought national election. That vote will decide whether nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban continues his autocratic rule for a fourth consecutive term. Supporters of the six-party coalition seeking to oust Orban gathered in the rain in Budapest, where challenger Peter Marki-Zay urged voters to end to what he called “the most corrupt government in our 1,000-year history.” Polls show that the Sunday vote will be the closest since Orban took power in 2010, but give his right-wing Fidesz party a slight lead. Marki-Zay said Sunday’s election is now about whether Hungary would belong to the democratic West or among the autocracies of the East.