Hungary’s Viktor Orbán steps down from parliament after a landslide defeat, vows to rebuild


BUDAPEST, Hungary — Outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will not take his seat in parliament following a landslide election loss this month, and will instead focus on rebuilding his nationalist-populist political community, he announced Saturday in a video on social media.

Hungary’s April 12 election brought an end to Orbán’s 16 years in power when voters cast their ballots overwhelmingly for a center-right challenger who promised to crack down on endemic corruption and restore Hungary’s democratic institutions that had been eroded under Orbán.

That challenger, the Tisza party led by Hungary’s incoming Prime Minister Péter Magyar, won a two-thirds majority in parliament that will allow it to undo many of Orbán’s policies.

Hungary's new prime minister Péter Magyar defeated nationalist Viktor Orbán on April 12.
Hungary’s new prime minister Péter Magyar defeated nationalist Viktor Orbán on April 12.Attila Kisbendek / AFP – Getty Images

Since the election, the long-serving prime minister’s future role in Hungarian political life, and whether he will retain a role in government, has been uncertain.

But in a video posted to Facebook, Orbán said his party’s caucus in parliament would be “radically transformed” following the election loss, and that he would not take his seat.

“Our task now is not in parliament,” Orbán said, but in the “reorganization” of his political camp that he calls the “national side.”

“I have led our community for nearly four decades,” Orbán said. “This camp has always been the most united and cohesive political community in Hungary.”

Magyar has vowed to restore democratic institutions and the rule of law, which eroded under Orbán’s rule, and to hold accountable those who he says were responsible for overseeing and benefiting from widespread official corruption.

When the new parliament forms on May 9, it will be the first time since Hungary’s transition from state socialism in 1990 that Orbán has not held a seat among lawmakers.

In his statement, Orbán suggested he would remain the president of his Fidesz party after the party’s congress convenes in June to elect its leader.

Magyar’s party gained 141 seats out of 199 in parliament, the largest majority in Hungary’s post-Communist history. Orbán’s far-right, eurosceptic Fidesz party will control 52 seats, down from 135 before the election.



Source link

  • Related Posts

    U.S. Sanctions Zigzag in New World of Economic Warfare

    With oil prices in mind, the Trump administration has deployed a haphazard approach to sanctions on Russia and Iran. Source link

    Generative AI and Entrepreneurship – Marginal REVOLUTION

    This paper studies how Generative AI (Gen AI) is reshaping the U.S. startup ecosystem. Exploiting the release of ChatGPT, we show that startups with greater pre-release Gen AI task exposure…

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    You Missed

    Cut off by 3rd landslide in a decade, Old Fort, B.C., residents worry about community’s future

    Cut off by 3rd landslide in a decade, Old Fort, B.C., residents worry about community’s future

    Box Art Brawl: Yoshi’s Universal Gravitation (GBA)

    Box Art Brawl: Yoshi’s Universal Gravitation (GBA)

    Over 20-Hour Flights: Inside Qatar Airways’ Brand-New Ultra-Long Route

    Over 20-Hour Flights: Inside Qatar Airways’ Brand-New Ultra-Long Route

    U.S. Sanctions Zigzag in New World of Economic Warfare

    40 years after Chernobyl, Russian invasion complicates recovery efforts

    40 years after Chernobyl, Russian invasion complicates recovery efforts

    Letters: A salute to Calgary Flames goalie Dustin Wolf’s ‘class act’