CAN IT BE TRUE?

C B C . C A N e w s - F u l l S t o r y : Socialist coalition wins Hungarian election with increased majority Last Updated Sun, 23 Apr 2006 17:34:34 EDT CBC News Hungary's Socialist-led coalition won a general election on Sunday with an increased majority to become the country's first government to retain power since communism fell in 1989. With 98 per cent of the vote counted in the second round of polling, the election commission projected the Socialist Party and its Free Democrat allies would increase their majority from 198 to 210 seats in the 386-member parliament. Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, right, of the Hungarian Socialist Party and his wife, Klara Dobrev, celebrate his second-round parliamentary election victory on Sunday. (Bela Szandelszky/Associated Press) Reuters said it was a personal triumph for 44-year-old Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany , who rescued the Socialists from what appeared to be certain defeat when he became premier in 2004. "We understand the responsibility we have been given. We have to create a better, more successful Hungary that is better to live in," Gyurcsany, a millionaire businessman, told hundreds of ecstatic supporters, some waving the national flag. Unlike many other leaders across central Europe, he did not have the stigma of having held a senior post under communist rule. Opposition leader Viktor Orban later conceded defeat, saying: "Those who join forces win and the losers are those who are unable to co-operate." The election commission projections gave Orban's Fidesz's party 164 seats. About 64 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots Sunday. Copyright ©2006 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved