A new rival has led Hungarians against Viktor Orbán: shaking up the political landscape

Tens of thousands of Hungarians protested against the country’s leadership on Saturday in one of the biggest demonstrations in years, organized by a former statesman who rocked Hungary’s political landscape.

According to The Guardian, Peter Magyar, a lawyer and former diplomat who once belonged to the elite circle of Hungary’s ruling party, publicly broke with the government in February and now intends to challenge Viktor Orban, the powerful prime minister.

Over the past 14 years, critics have accused Orban of increasingly undermining democratic institutions, cozying up to Moscow and Beijing and overseeing a corrupt patronage network.

The longtime Hungarian leader, who began his career as an anti-communist liberal, has moved his Fidesz party to the right. Orban served as prime minister from 1998 to 2002, but after returning to power in 2010 he began to pursue a more nationalist and illiberal course, often coming into conflict with the EU, The Guardian recalls.

Now Magyar, who was previously married to the former Hungarian justice minister, is trying to create a new type of opposition movement. On Saturday afternoon, young people, pensioners and families with children marched through the center of Budapest and tried to squeeze into the vast square in front of the parliament building, with some of the crowd moving into nearby streets.

Some carried signs with the names of their hometowns. Many waved Hungarian flags.

“From now on, nothing will be the same as before,” Magyar said, championing the idea of ​​a meritocratic, Europe-oriented Hungary. “A change has begun that cannot be stopped,” he said.

Speaking to demonstrators, Magyar accused the country’s media and prosecutors of a lack of real independence, leveled allegations of high-level government corruption and said he would create a party to stand in European Parliament elections in June.

“We Hungarians unite,” he told the crowd, calling on right-wing, left-wing and liberal Hungarians to respect each other and work together to replace the current political elite.

Protesters who spoke to the observer said they found Magyar, who positioned himself as a centrist figure and criticized both the government and some of the opposition, to be convincing.

Istvan, a middle-aged man who came to Budapest from western Hungary, said it was his first anti-government protest. “I think the opposition was helpless,” he said as he walked toward parliament.

“I find him trustworthy,” he said of Magyar, adding: “He was a beneficiary of the system, he abandoned it and turned his back on it – and that says something.”

Magyar’s decision to publicly challenge the government comes after Hungarian President Katalin Nowak resigned after it emerged she had pardoned a man convicted of helping cover up a sex abuse case at an orphanage.

Some demonstrators cited the incident as one of the reasons for their growing political involvement.

Kitty, a young woman who said she began attending protests after the pardon scandal, said the traditional opposition “really has no motivation to change this regime.”

The protest itself was different from the usual Hungarian opposition demonstrations: music from a television show about the mafia played, and images of the Hungarian political elite flashed on a giant screen. Along with the speeches, there were poems and singing, The Guardian reports.

Observers say that while Magyar does appear to be attracting the attention of some voters, it is still unclear what impact his movement will have in the long term.

“The appearance of Peter Magyar was unexpected and clearly took the government and its communications apparatus by surprise,” said political scientist Zsuzsanna Weg.

A recent poll by Budapest’s Republikon Institute found that Magyar’s party, if officially established, would be the third most popular in the country, with 15% of party-preferred voters backing him.

This decision “can be interpreted primarily as a protest vote – against the regime,” Wegh comments, noting, however, that “it is not yet clear whether it will be able to cause a headache for Orbán for a long time.”

The movement led by Magyar has given hope to those Hungarians who oppose the prime minister but also distrust the country’s veteran leftists. However, some of Orban’s opponents have expressed concerns that he could split the opposition vote.

Magyar has also faced controversy over recent claims by his ex-wife Judit Varga that he mistreated her while they were married.

Asked whether the Hungarian government sees Magyar and his movement as a challenge in the upcoming European Parliament and local elections, Balázs Orbán, the prime minister’s political director, said: “Such characters come and go.”