Socialists set for Hungary victory

Orban and his daughter leave the polling booth

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- The Socialists have ousted the government of charismatic Viktor Orban after a record turn-out by voters, exit polls predict.

Hungarians had flocked to the polls in record numbers on Sunday in a knife-edge parliamentary election dominated by personalities.

The Socialists, led by Peter Medgyessy, and its ally, the Alliance of Free Democrats, won 198 of parliament's 386 seats compared to 188 to Orban's Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Party.

Although Fidesz improved its showing on the first-round result on April it was unable to overcome the Socialists' combined count.

A record 71 percent of eligible voters cast their ballot on Sunday, the highest since the fall of communist rule in 1990.

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Orban had sought to become the nation's first post-communist premier to win re-election.

The 38-year-old Oxford University graduate had tried to take his fight to the countryside to overcome antipathy towards his strong nationalist rhetoric.

Fidesz won 87 seats in the 386-member parliament in the April 7 ballot, with the Socialists gaining 93.

The Alliance of Free Democrats, a small liberal party aligned with the Socialists, won four seats and withdrew most of its candidates from Sunday's run-offs in the Socialists' favour.

The second round was called to decide seats not won by at least 50 percent.

Orban has established a sound economy, taken Hungary into the NATO military alliance, and is determined to complete his nation's drive to join the European Union, probably by 2004.

Medgyessy benefited from Orban's nationalist tone which alienated some voters

But with both Orban and Medgyessy using tax cuts and strong economic growth as their main campaign message the campaign had been transformed into a contest of contrasting styles.

Orban has deployed a boisterous stance compared to the low-key but persistent tactics deployed by the banker Medgyessy.

The vote is the fourth general election in Hungary since the fall of communism in 1989. The first round saw the highest post-communist turnout with 71 percent casting their ballot.

Under Hungary's complex electoral system, which mixes first-past-the-post and proportional representation, 176 MPs are directly elected by majority vote in individual constituencies.

Another 152 MPs are elected from regional party lists. Under this system, a party must poll at least 5 percent of the votes to gain entry to parliament.

The remaining 58 seats are distributed from leftover votes from national lists to ensure proportional representation.

Only three parties passed the 5 percent hurdle, halving the number of parties in the next parliament.

Within days of the second round, the president normally asks the largest party's leader to form a new government, a process which has a 40-day deadline.