Page 36 - bne IntelliNews monthly magazine May 2024

36 I Central Europe bne May 2024
An estimated 250,000 people took to the streets on the call of emerging star of the Hungarian opposition, Peter Magyar. / bne IntelliNews
Magyar steps up as challenger to Orban in largest anti-government protest since 1988
Tamas Csonka in Budapest
Former Fidesz insider Peter Magyar has stepped up as challenger to Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s longest-serving prime minister, after organising the largest mass demonstration since the country’s transition to democracy in 1989-1990.
"Change has started that can't be stopped," he told supporters filling the square and nearby streets in front of the parliament building in Budapest's main square.
The demonstration is a huge defeat for Fidesz, as its attempt to discredit Magyar was futile, bit it is also a huge slap in the face for the opposition, which for years has been unable to gather a crowd similar to Saturday's rally.
In less than two months since bursting
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into the limelight, 42-year-old Magyar – the ex-husband of former Justice Minister Judit Varga, and a businessman and lawyer close to the ruling Fidesz party – has shaken up the political landscape and given hope to hundreds of thousands of Hungarians who
had almost given up hope that the radical rightwing Orban regime could be toppled.
Since he made his debut in politics, Magyar has positioned himself as
a centrist, targeting those who have grown tired of the political elite, from the left to the right.
A recent poll by the Budapest-based Republikon Institute found that his party, if formally formed, would be the third most popular in the country, with 15%. According to the survey, a third of
his supporters come from the undecided, which hit record levels recently, and
he managed to lure 5% of active Fidesz supporters, but he has managed to draw in many apolitical voters as well. He also swayed many opposition voters, according to Republikon.
Magyar’s presence in politics could become a serious headache for Orban. The ruling party has lost its stamina and its ability to control the narrative. It has lurched from one crisis to another in the last two months.
The Fidesz paedophile pardon scandal in early February rocked Hungarian politics when it was revealed that President Katalin Novák granted a pardon to
the deputy head of an orphanage who covered up the sexual abuse of children committed by his boss.