Hungary’s Viktor Orban struggling for political survival ahead of vote

The Hungarian prime minister and his Fidesz party ‌face a close contest in Sunday’s parliamentary polls.For the first time in 16 years, Viktor Orban’s rule over Hungary is looking shaky.In Sunday’s closely contested parliamentary election, around eight million voters in the population of almost 10 million are ready to choose between stability or change.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3‘Orban constantly vetoes’: Europe braces for Hungary electionlist 2 of 3Vance visits Hungary to shore up Orban’s support before Sunday votelist 3 of 3Why is Hungary’s election so important on the international stage?end of listIt’s clear there is a large appetite for someone new looking at the crowds of supporters that Peter Magyar, Orban’s centre-right, pro-European Union contender has been attracting. The latest polls show his Tisza party comfortably ahead of Orban’s Fidesz, with a big chance of winning a majority in parliament.A visit by US vice president JD Vance to Budapest this week, along with an endorsement by President Donald Trump, did not turn the tide in Orban’s favour. Instead, due to public frustration over the Iran war and the resulting price rises, the White House show of support may even have cost him votes.Vance’s visit shows that this election is being closely watched in Washington, where Orban’s conservative, illiberal rule is seen as a model. But it’s also attracted attention in Moscow, where Orban is considered an ally who, much to the annoyance of the EU, has regularly used his veto to block funds for the war in Ukraine.Addressing a crowd in Szekesfehervar, one of his loyal bases, Orban called on his supporters to continue campaigning until the last moment. “It’s a choice between me or Zelenskyy,” he said on Friday evening.But Orban’s campaign rhetoric that Hungary will be dragged into the Ukraine war – and that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be the one in charge – has started to sound hollow to long-time Fidesz supporters, such as Marta Bognar.‘We need change’After voting for Orban for years, she is now campaigning for his opponent in her hometown Sumeg, one of the many traditional strongholds of Fidesz. She tells Al Jazeera she is struggling to get by – or buy her medication due to the ailing healthcare system.