Hungary s parliament re-elects Ader as President

Budapest March 13 (IANS) In a vote split along party lines Hungary s parliament on Monday re-elected Janos Ader as the country s President for a new five-year term handing him a win over law professor Laszlo Majtenyi.

The ruling Fidesz Party and its ally the Christian Democratic People s Party (KDNP) which hold 131 seats in the 199-member parliament nominated Ader for both his first and second terms Xinhua news agency reported.

Left-wing opposition parties nominated law professor and former data protection ombudsman Laszlo Majtenyi current chairman of the Eovos Karoly Institute political think tank as essentially a protest candidate since Ader s re-election was assured by the Fidesz party support.

Ader was elected with the support of the 131 Fidesz party Members of Parliament (MPs) while Majtenyi received 39 votes from left-of-centre MPs in the second round of voting. The 24 members of the right-wing Jobbik party did not participate in the vote.

The President is elected by parliament. To be elected in the first round of voting a candidate must receive two-thirds of the vote. Ader was two votes short of the 133 needed for a first round election since Fidesz and the KDNP have only 131 seats and Ader was not supported by any other party.

Since a simple majority is sufficient for election in the second round of voting Ader won re-election in the second round with the 131 Fidesz votes.

This will be Ader s second term as President. He took office in May 2012 following the resignation of his predecessor Pal Schmitt who became involved in a plagiarism scandal.

Ader was born in 1959. He holds a law degree served as a Deputy Speaker of Parliament and was a Member of the European Parliament until 2012 representing Fidesz. He resigned from the party as a prerequisite to serving as the country s President.

Hungary s President may not be a member of any political party and represents the unity of the Hungarian state.

--IANS
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