Peter Magyar defeats Viktor Orban in Hungarian parliament election
· UPIApril 12 (UPI) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is projected to lose his re-election effort, with more than half the ballots counted, and has already conceded after 16 years in the position.
Peter Magyar and his Tisza party are projected to win a super-majority in Hungary's parliament, taking 135 of 199 seats, and ending Orban's long-time rule of the country, NBC News and The Washington Post reported.
Orban, who is an ally of both U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, spent his four terms as prime minister cracking down on courts and the media amid alleged corruption and illiberal rule of the country.
Magyar posted on Facebook that Orban called to congratulate the Tisza party leaders for their victory after what has been reported as a historic election that brought out nearly 80% of registered voters.
"Hello, my fellow Hungarians -- we have done it," Magyar told his supporters. "Tisza and Hungary have won the elections. Not by a small but by a very large margin."
"Together, we liberated Hungary," he said, according to The Guardian.
In a speech to his supporters, Orban thanked them and Hungary, announcing that he had conceded defeat after the "painful" but "clear" results of the election, CNN reported.
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