Hungary to hold general elections on April 8: president

BUDAPEST, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian President Janos Ader called the general elections for April 8 in a official statement published here on Thursday.

The elections will be held in one single turn, and Hungarians will have the chance to give Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban a third consecutive term in office.

During the last elections, Orban' s Fidesz Party and its partner KDNP won about 45 percent of the vote, which translated into 133 of the 199 seats of the national assembly.

This meant that the Fidesz retained its qualified 2/3 majority of the Parliament, enabling the party to alter the Constitution. But because of a defeat in a by-election in 2015, Fidesz lost its super majority.

Orban, known as a hardliner in immigration policies, is likely to win the elections against every poll.

The opposition is divided, the strongest party is the radical Jobbik, followed by the MSZP (Socialist), and other smaller left and green formations.

A party must obtain 5 percent of the vote to enter the parliament. Enditem