Jubilant crowds celebrate the defeat of Viktor Orbán and the rise of Peter Magyar
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London: I sit at my desk and browse the images of the enthusiastic crowds I encountered in Budapest a few nights ago, where thousands of people filled the streets to celebrate Sunday’s election results in Hungary. Looking at the video files, I am grateful to the people who took the time to share their views on the defeat of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. And I was grateful to have a wireless microphone they could hold while they talked, because that night, even with all the loud cheering, I could barely hear what they were saying.
“We want a completely new government that will lead Hungary to a better future,” said a young man carrying a banner with the face of new prime minister Peter Magyar. He then let out a shrill scream as the crowd cheered behind him. Nearby, a woman laughed quietly with her partner and teenage son. “Very basic rules, very basic laws can be changed for the better,” he said.
As the results came in, thousands more people boarded the metro and flocked to Batthyany Square, across the Danube in front of the historic parliament. They were not only very happy with the change of government: these joys broke out when the results confirmed that the Magyar could govern the country by taking more than two-thirds of the seats, allowing him to reverse laws and appointments with a greater obstacle to change. I haven’t had to squeeze my way through a crowd this much since the mosh pit of a David Bowie concert a few years ago.
A group of young women told me they felt the election was making history. “I was proud to vote for the first time,” one of them said. Others noted that the result was the most significant for the country since the fall of communism, given that it removed a leader who had been so entrenched for 16 years. “This is truly an incredible feeling,” said another young woman.
I attended election night meetings where fans were celebrating victory. (Kevin Rudd in Brisbane in 2007 comes to mind). I’ve been to nights where party faithful have cried over beer (Labour vs. Bill Shorten in Melbourne in 2019) or hailed narrow success as if it were a bitter defeat (Liberals vs. Malcolm Turnbull in 2016). But I have never seen a place where so many voters rushed to the streets with such frenzied joy.
Of course, this was not a randomly selected sample of voters. I chose to join the Hungarian crowd, not knowing whether they would end the night with joy or sadness. Meanwhile, Orbán supporters were across the river and I couldn’t be in two places at once. When I met some of them outside a polling station earlier in the day, one of them was worried that Magyar would weaken immigration laws. One man did not want to risk change. “We need a strong leader, not someone who needs to learn how to run a country,” he said.
It’s too early to know whether the 45-year-old Magyar will be up to the task at hand.
A banner in Batthyany Square summarized an important feature of the discontent. Orbán’s face was visible on the outside of the matryoshka doll. The man holding the banner flicked his wrist and the banner revealed who was inside the doll. Surprise! That was Russian President Vladimir Putin. The crowd chanted “Ruszkik haza!” he chanted. – It means “Russians are returning home”. Hungarians shouted the same words to Russian troops who took control of the country in 1956. In the crowd, you couldn’t just think about history, you could feel it, too.
In the days since the election, I have been surprised by the complaints of conservatives outside Hungary who believe Orbán should win. Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott was among them. Many people saw Orbán as the global defender of the right, but they missed what worries many Hungarians. Those I spoke to near polling stations cited the centralization of power, state control of the economy, and the wealth accumulated by Orbán’s family members, to name a few concerns.
On Wednesday, Magyar appeared on state television for the first time in 18 months. He called state media a “propaganda machine” and said he would suspend news services until the public service contract was reinstated. Long before the elections, Reporters Without Borders described Orbán as a “plunderer of press freedom” for the many methods he used to control the media. Outside the country, fans praised his conservative values. Inside the country, ordinary people saw his autocratic values.
Over a beer in a restaurant near the Opera House, I spoke to an Australian who has lived in Hungary for 35 years. John Verpeleti, our subscriber AgeAfter the fall of communism, he left Melbourne to start a business in the country of his ancestors. He has seen a lot since then and thinks Orbán’s fall is a great day for Hungary and democracy.
“The outgoing administration may have used populism as a cover, but there were a lot of things underneath that that the public recognized and rejected,” he told me. “Abuse of power, state capture and corruption had reached appalling levels and it was time for a reckoning. I’m glad there is still enough of a democratic framework in place to make this happen.”
I managed to get a ticket to visit parliament one morning before the election. (Tip: get there at 8am). The building, with its massive dome and countless towers, is so magnificent that it seems to feature prominently in every promotion for a Danube cruise. Its design and decoration are magnificent, but it is also a monument of history. For more than 1,000 years, Hungarians have survived the rise and fall of empires, invasions, and totalitarian rule. No wonder they were so enthusiastic about democracy in action on Sunday night.
If I get the chance, I’ll be back for another beer. Hopes are high for Magyar and his new government. Let’s see if they can deliver.
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David Crowe is the European correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect with: X or email.
