Following an election earthquake, Hungary ponders life after Orbán
Following an election earthquake in which voters overwhelmingly rejected pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Hungarians are considering what to expect from the country’s new leader, Péter Magyar, a pro-European reformer who promises a fundamental transformation in the country’s political culture.
Magyar’s victory was welcomed by tens of thousands of people, mostly young people, on the streets of Budapest late Sunday, celebrating what they saw as a glimmer of hope that Orbán’s loss would leave Hungary freer, happier and firmly rooted among European democracies.
During Sunday’s celebrations, Adrien Rixer said he flew back to Hungary from his home in London: “Because I really wanted my vote to count and I’m very happy.”
“Finally, after 16 years, I can say that I am a proud Hungarian,” he said.
In his campaign, Magyar promised to end Hungary’s drift towards Russia and to restore ties with its European allies. He promised voters that he would root out corruption and create a “peaceful, functioning and humane” Hungary after 16 years of autocratic rule and the erosion of the rule of law under Orbán.
It is not yet known what these changes will look like. During his 16 years in power, Orbán governed with the power of a two-thirds parliamentary majority, allowing him to pass a new constitution, rewrite the electoral system and reshape the judiciary.
Magyar’s Tisza party secured just such a mandate by winning 138 of 199 seats in parliament on Sunday; It gave the party broad authority to roll back much of the legislation that allowed Orbán to stack the courts, manipulate the electoral system, crack down on press freedom and discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community.
Many Hungarians and others across Europe who watched the elections closely feared that Tisza’s absolute majority would be insufficient to truly transform Orbán’s system. Others remain unclear about what the two-thirds majority mandate would bring; Others are uneasy about taking such authority away from Orbán and handing it over to his rival.
“It is difficult to see that there will be a fair government with two-thirds, but we will see,” said reveler Dániel Kovács. “Hopefully it will be a promising four years.”
Magyar accuses Orbán and his government of mismanaging Hungary’s economy and social services and overseeing unchecked corruption, which he says has led to the accumulation of excessive wealth within a small circle of well-connected people while leaving ordinary Hungarians behind.
He has vowed to hold accountable for such abuses and plans to create an Office for the Recovery of National Assets to roll back what he says are the ill-gotten gains of Orbán’s allies.
Magyar campaigned heavily on a promise to bring home billions of euros of European Union funds frozen in Hungary due to corruption and rule of law concerns under Orbán. He also promised to introduce the euro to Hungary by 2030, something that Orbán’s government has long resisted.
Imre Végh, a Budapest resident, said earlier Monday that Orbán had established an “illiberal system” that was contrary to Hungary’s core values.
“We are Europeans and we want to stay in Europe,” he said.
