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Fidesz Party Leader Viktor Orban delivers his victory speech in Budapest on Sunday, April 11.Balint Porneczi

Viktor Orban declared a sweeping victory for his centre-right Fidesz Party on Sunday, telling supporters that leading Hungary as prime minister would be the biggest task of his life.

All polls had pointed to a Fidesz victory, and the weight of expectation to put Hungary back on a course of growth after near financial collapse will be immense, from Hungarians and investors alike.

Fidesz pushed the ruling socialists to a distant second, ahead of the far-right Jobbik Party; but it was still not immediately clear whether Fidesz would win the two-thirds majority in parliament it needs to push through vital reforms.

A second round of voting will be held on April 25 when the remaining 121 seats will be decided.

Economists say Mr. Orban, 46, will need to implement structural change to shrink the local-government sector and make the health and education systems more efficient.

"On this splendid day, Hungarians have expressed that Hungary is united, Hungary has power, is able to do great things; it wants jobs, order and safety. Hungarians have shown to the world that it's again good to be Hungarian," he told 2,000 cheering supporters in central Budapest.

He said Hungarians had "defeated hopelessness" but admitted the road ahead would be difficult: "I feel it with all my nerves and know it deep in my heart that I face the biggest task of my life. I will need all the Hungarian people to solve that."

Fidesz, which last ruled between 1998 and 2002, campaigned on a promise to jolt the ailing economy with tax cuts, jobs and support for smaller businesses.

"We have been waiting for this for eight years; no, for 22 years, since Fidesz was founded," Magdolna Karbacz, 44, an entrepreneur from the western city of Szekesfehervar said at Fidesz headquarters, in downtown Budapest.

The socialist government led by technocrat Gordon Bajnai since April 2009 made painful budget cuts to rein in the deficit under a deal led by the International Monetary Fund, which provided emergency financing for Hungary in 2008 crisis.

The country's economy contracted by 6.3 per cent last year, while unemployment is running at 11.4 per cent, the highest since 1994.

Fidesz secured 206 out of 386 parliamentary seats, the national election committee said on its website. The socialists took 28 seats, ahead of the far-right Jobbik Party, which had 26 seats in the first round.

With five seats, the liberal Green Party also enters parliament.

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