Joint Fidesz-Christian Democrat candidate Balázs Gárday won the by-election in Csepel constituency number three on Sunday, local election office head Gábor Széles told MTI. Of the 4,158 eligible voters, 989, or 23.78%, turned out.
In what is seen by some commentators as a highly significant result, as Csepel is traditionally a left-wing stronghold, Gárday received 505 votes, ahead of Socialist Ferenc Mészáros with 347 votes, Jobbik candidate Zsolt Badacsonyi on 76 votes, Free Democrat Márton Kulinyi 30 votes, Democratic Forum candidate Mrs. Zs. Szabó 15 votes, Workers Party candidate János Nagy 10 votes and Hungarian Socialist Workers Party candidate Elemér Csaba 3 votes.
The previous council member deputy and Socialist chapter head József Takács was one of two men shot dead at the local primary and vocational school on January 7. Police are holding two men as suspects in the double murder, during which Takács’s deputy at the school was also killed.
