Viktor Orban’s 16-year rule in Hungary has come to an end. His former ally Peter Magyar’s Tisza party won a majority in the parliamentary election, winning 138 out of 199 seats. Orban’s party was reduced to 55 seats.
Budapest: A new phase has begun in Hungarian politics. The 16-year-old rule of Prime Minister Viktor Orban has come to an end. The ‘TISZA’ party of Peter Magyar, a former close aide and disciple of Orban, has won a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections. “Tonight, the truth has triumphed over lies,” Magyar told thousands of supporters gathered on the banks of the Danube River in Budapest after the victory.
By Monday morning, 97.35% of vote counting had been completed. According to the results, Magyar’s center-right party won a majority in the 199-seat parliament, winning 138 seats. He got a total of 53.6% votes. At the same time, Orban’s far-right party ‘Fidesz’ was reduced to only 55 seats with 37.8% votes.
“Tonight, the truth has triumphed over lies,” Magyar, 45, said as he addressed a crowd of thousands of supporters gathered along the Danube River in Budapest.
Who is Peter Magyar?
In Hungarian language ‘Magyar’ means ‘Hungarian’. Peter Magyar was born in March 1981 in Budapest into a family of lawyers. He is also the grandson of Ferenc Model, President of Hungary from 2000 to 2005. Magyar has said many times that Orban’s leadership in the fight for democracy against the Soviet Union inspired him to enter politics.
Magyar married Judit Varga in 2006, with whom he has three children. Judit has also been the Justice Minister in the Orban government. The couple got divorced in 2023. Magyar himself has been an official in the Foreign Ministry and the European Union in Brussels. Later he also worked as the head of many government companies.
Magyar, who had been loyal to Orban for years, turned against his own party in 2024 after a dispute. In fact, Hungarian President Katalin Novak pardoned a man who tried to suppress a case of sexual abuse in a children’s shelter home. Magyar’s ex-wife Judit Varga’s name also came up in this case. After this incident both Varga and the President had to resign.
Soon after, Magyar began exposing corruption in the Orbán government. He released a recording of a conversation he had with his ex-wife. This recording was proof that the government was interfering in corruption cases. After this incident Magyar became a hero among the public.
However, the name Magyar also came into many controversies. His ex-wife Judit Varga had accused him of domestic violence. Pictures related to drug use and sex scandal also went viral on social media. But Magyar called it a conspiracy by Orban’s party and continued his work among the public.
His biggest promise in the election is to revive Hungary’s declining economy. It is believed that he will try to improve the deteriorated relations with the European Union. He has already said that he will reduce energy dependence on Russia by 2035. However, he has expressed disagreement with Ukraine’s immediate accession to the EU.
Magyar’s victory has brought great hope for the youth of Hungary. Many people are seeing this as the country’s freedom from 16 years of uniform rule. He believes that building democracy is a more difficult task than breaking it.