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SZÁZADVÉG: MÁRKI-ZAY POPULARITY FALLING

 

The popularity of the opposition’s prime ministerial candidate, Péter Márki-Zay, was at 33% in January, down by 3 percentage points since December and 9 percentage points since his nomination in October 2021, a survey published by the Századvég Foundation on Friday shows. According to the January phone survey of 1,000 adults, 42% of respondents living in Budapest expressed positive opinions of Márki-Zay, while 52% said they “do not like him”, the pollster said. The opposition’s candidate who is also mayor of Hódmezővásárhely, in southeast Hungary, was popular with 35% of respondents in county seats and 32% of those living in smaller towns, while he was unpopular with 56% and 61% of voters in those localities, respectively, Századvég said. In villages, 26% of respondents approved and 65% disapproved of Márki-Zay, Századvég said.
Századvég attributed Márki-Zay’s waning popularity to conflicts between the candidate and the leftist alliance supporting him. “Setting up an opposition election lists has proven to be more challenging than originally anticipated,” it said. Márki-Zay has also slammed highly popular government measures such as the re-introduction of the 13th month pension, utility price cuts and the cap on fuel prices, it added.