These are turbulent times in Hungary: The judicial scandal surrounding a controversial amnesty in a pedophilia case has turned into a full-blown government crisis. Recently, new grievances have constantly come to light, and thousands have been taking to the streets for weeks. And for the first time in a long time, something like a spirit of optimism can be felt again in Hungary, where Viktor Orbán has ruled since 2010.
The reason is above all one man: Péter Magyar. The former lawyer worked for Orbán’s Fidesz party for years, was married to a close Orbán confidante and is considered an absolute insider. Now he has publicly broken with his former party and wants to set up his own list. The timing is explosive: the elections to the European Parliament will take place in three months, and local elections will also be held in Hungary at the same time.
Experts attribute great potential to Magyar. “An insider jumping out of the shadows and emerging as the new opposition leader – that is absolutely unprecedented in recent years,” says Robert Laszlo, political expert at the think tank “Political Capital.”
Billing with the system
Magyar has been drumming up resistance for weeks. In interviews, he takes on the government, accusing it of setting up an oligarchy in which half the country is in the hands of a few families. He regularly explains on social media and at appearances that he can bring the entire system down with his insider knowledge.
On Tuesday he published an audio recording on his Facebook page with serious allegations against the mafia Orbán government. It is allegedly a recording of a conversation between Magyar and his ex-wife Varga in January 2023, which concerns a corruption case involving a former state secretary in the Ministry of Justice. He is said to have received the equivalent of tens of thousands of euros in bribes in exchange for agreeing to fill positions in courts.
The authenticity of the recording is still unclear. But the Orbán regime and its loyal media have already launched massive counter-propaganda. They portray Magyar as a violent man who enjoys no credibility whatsoever in his vendetta against his ex-wife.
Nevertheless, several thousand people spontaneously followed Magyar’s call to gather in front of the Prosecutor General’s Office in Budapest. Hungary is ruled by a mafia, that is now obvious to everyone, he explained to the angry crowd. More protests are expected in the next few days. He has again called for a major protest in Budapest on April 6th.
Whether Magyar actually has the potential to become a threat to Orbán remains to be seen for the time being. However, the last few weeks have shown that he understands how to use social networks and can mobilize people in this way. This means he will have no problem collecting the necessary 20,000 signatures in time to run for the EU elections.
More political bombs?
His main topic is likely to remain the fight against corruption. Under Orbán, Hungary fell from 55 (2012) to 42 (2023) points in Transparency International’s corruption index. “The grievances in Hungary are widely known. But the fact that the allegations now come from the innermost circle of power is new,” says Jozsef Peter Martin, director of Transparency International Hungary. The Hungarian legal system is firmly in the hands of the government. But Magyar could change the political culture, says Martin. The Hungarian population’s long-standing apathy could also end.
So it remains exciting, especially since the 43-year-old Magyar probably still has one or two political bombs up his sleeve.
