Chamber:
	Országgyülés
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	7 April 2002 21 April 2002
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	Voters went to the polls on 7 and 21 April 2002 to elect all 386 members of Parliament. The elections came at a crucial time, as the country approached membership in the European Union. Outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who led the centre-right Fidesz party, focused his electoral campaign on the country's strong economic growth as well as on his nationalist agenda, which gives perks to ethnic Hungarians living abroad. One of the most important components of this agenda is "the reunification of the nation across the borders". This nationalism was highly criticised by the opposition Socialists, led by Mr Peter Medgyessy, who said that it harms Hungary's image abroad and accused the Prime Minister of being populist. In the first round, more than 71 per cent of the country's 8.1 million eligible voters cast ballots, a record. The results for this round showed that the Socialists won 42.1% of the votes, as against 41.1% for the governing coalition of Fidesz, Hungarian Civic Party and Hungarian Democratic Forum. In accordance with the electoral law, 45 candidates in individual constituencies who polled 50% of the vote in the first round were declared elected, leaving 131 to be elected in a second round of run-off elections. In addition, 140 candidates were elected from the regional constituencies on a proportional basis. The results of the second round on 21 April 2002 produced a shift in power. The opposition coalition of Socialists and Liberals managed to narrowly defeat the ruling conservatives of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, winning 198 of the 386 seats. While Mr Orban's party will be the biggest single party in the new Parliament, it fell short of a majority. In the closely fought contest, voter turnout was even higher in the second than in the first round, as 73.47 per cent of those eligible went to the polls. On 15 May 2002, President Ferenc Madl opened the new Parliament's inaugural session and appointed Socialist Party candidate for Prime Minister, Mr Peter Medgyessy, to form the government. The Parliament also elected Ms. Katalin Szili (Socialist ) to the post of Speaker.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (7 April 2002): Elections results
Number of registered electors	8 037 265
Voters	5 667 551 (71 %)
Round no 2 (21 April 2002): Elections results
Number of registered electors	5 941 784
Voters	4 365 460 (73 %)

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	%
Hungarian Civic Party (FIDESZ MPP)	22.54
Hungarian Socialist Party (MSzP)	24.35
Alliance of Free Democrats (SzDSz)	1.04

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Hungarian Civic Party (FIDESZ MPP)	87
Hungarian Socialist Party (MSzP)	94
Alliance of Free Democrats (SzDSz)	4
Round no 2: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Hungarian Civic Party (FIDESZ MPP)	101
Hungarian Socialist Party (MSzP)	85
Alliance of Free Democrats (SzDSz)	15

Comments:
	There is one joint Socialist-Free Democrat candidate included in the 179 seats for the Socialist Party.

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	348
Women:	38
Percent of women:	9.84 %