How Péter Magyar wants to strengthen the rule of law

Change of power in Hungary

Election winner surprises Orbán with an advance

Hungary’s outgoing Prime Minister Orbán admits defeat. It remains unclear how quickly constitutional structures in the country can be strengthened. Election winner Magyar surprises with an advance.

Péter Magyar clearly won the elections in Hungary. “This is not a change of power, but a change of system,” the election winner made clear in a press conference on Monday. At the same time, he called on President Tamás Sulyok to convene the new parliament quickly. Magyar wants to replace Viktor Orbán as head of government by the beginning of May at the latest.

Magyar also announced a constitutional change on Monday. The term of office of the Prime Minister should be limited to two electoral periods. According to Magyar, this was aimed at the previous head of government, Viktor Orbán. “He had a great opportunity to achieve great things in the national interest so that Hungary could become an emerging European country… He didn’t take advantage of this opportunity, but abused it.”

The outgoing prime minister also surprised. Orbán admitted his defeat on the evening of the election and declared: “Whatever happens, we will also serve our homeland in the opposition.” Orbán relies on resistance in parliament. And the immunity from possible criminal prosecution that the parliamentary mandate gives him.

Election winner Magyar was confident on Monday. His Tisza party won a two-thirds majority. “This will make the transition more efficient, more peaceful and smoother,” explained the election winner.

However, the transition will not be easy. “Fidesz can theoretically do a lot. But the population will not stand by in silence,” said Péter Techet from the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM) in Vienna. In the event of disruptive maneuvers during the transfer of power, he expects mass demonstrations in Hungary.

Germany is also regularly criticized in the annual report, for example because of the lack of digitalization of the justice system. The criticism of Hungary is particularly harsh. The country report on Hungary, for example, criticizes “undue pressure on judges”, the erosion of media freedom, for example by state-owned companies only allocating their lavish advertising budgets to media that are sympathetic to Orbán or by intimidating media professionals, for example through lawsuits in the event of critical reporting.