The 45-year-old MEP and leader of the center-right party “Tisza,” Peter Magyar, was the big winner of the parliamentary elections on Sunday, April 12, in Hungary.
He secured 53.6% of the vote, winning 138 seats in the 199-seat Parliament (a two-thirds majority), leaving the far-right party of the incumbent prime minister, Viktor Orbán, in second place with 37.8% and 55 seats.
The defeat of V. Orbán, who had been in power for four consecutive terms (16 years), is being described as a blow to nationalist and far-right movements worldwide.
From V. Putin’s Russia (whose closest ally in the EU was V. Orbán) and D. Trump’s United States (who did everything in his power to support him), to Europe’s far-right parties and B. Netanyahu’s government in Israel, the far right is losing a major ally.
The 45-year-old P. Magyar was a member of “Fidesz” and a “protégé” of V. Orbán.
He became widely known two years ago, when he managed to gain traction from public outrage in Hungary over a presidential pardon granted to a man convicted of child abuse.
He distanced himself from “Fidesz,” accusing it of corruption and propaganda, and founded the party “Tisza,” winning 30% of the vote in the 2024 European Elections (finishing second behind “Fidesz”).
(fyinews/Reuters)
With the exception of migration, on which he has pledged to take a tougher stance than V. Orbán, P. Magyar has committed to dismantling almost the entire agenda of his predecessor.
Among other things, he pledged to restore democracy and put Hungary back on a European path, hoping to unlock EU funds that had been frozen.
He also promised to restore the rule of law and limit the number of prime ministerial terms to two.
In March 2024, his ex-wife, Judit Varga, accused him of domestic violence, while a few months later his name was linked to a sexual scandal, which he described as “staged.”
Although he has criticized V. Orbán’s pro-Russian policy, he has avoided taking a clear stance on the war in Ukraine and has been accused of sidestepping issues such as LGBTQ+ rights in his agenda.
Although parts of the opposition remain cautious toward him, P. Magyar was supported by almost the entire political spectrum opposed to V. Orbán.
“He’s not a saint, but ‘Fidesz’ has to go,” a Budapest resident told The Guardian ahead of the elections.
For a large part of society, P. Magyar, despite his flaws, represents hope for tackling corruption and restoring the rule of law, areas that were deeply undermined under the previous administration.
