The new Hungarian Prime Minister, Peter Magyar, gave his election victory speech this Sunday night with the words: “We took our country back.”
Speaking in front of thousands of supporters on a stage in front of Parliament, Magyar said it was an “unprecedented victory”, pointing to the “supermajority” which, at the time he was speaking, could be taken for granted.
his party, Tisza, secured more than 2/3 of the seats in Parliament.
ICom 98.53% of votes countedTisza appears in the official results as winning 138 mandates in Parliament (out of 199 seats), reaching a supermajority of two thirds (133) with Fidesz and the allies of the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP, in the original acronym) having 55. The extreme right of the Our Homeland Movement (Mi Hazank) elects six.
“We did it: Tisza and Hungary won these elections. Not by little, but by a huge margin, a truly overwhelming victory”, declared the conservative candidate. “Together, we overthrew the Orbán regime. We liberated Hungary, we conquered our homeland.”
Magyar spoke after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán admitted defeat in the elections and congratulated the opposition leader, Péter Magyar, on his victory.
“Prime Minister Viktor Orbán congratulated us on our victory on the phone,” wrote Magyar no Facebookminutes before Orbán himself spoke in public.
Orbán said that the result was painful for Fidesz, but also clear. The party that governed for the last 16 years will not have the responsibility of governing again, which is why it had congratulated its opponent – a former ally turned rival.
The Fidesz leader also promised not to give up, saying that he will serve the country and the Hungarian nation from opposition.
The first results began to be revealed an hour after the polls closed, which occurred at 7pm local time (6pm in Lisbon).
This Sunday, Hungarian voters elected 106 deputies in single constituencies, where the candidate with the most votes wins, and another 93 on national lists.
After the polls closed, the results of the last polls carried out before the vote (and in the meantime under embargo) were known, which gave the opposition victory.
Magyar immediately said he was “cautiously optimistic about the outcome” after these polls were known, but later, as the count progressed, he just wrote on Facebook: “Thank you Hungary!”
Record participation
Hungary recorded record turnout, with long queues at polling stations. More than 74% of voters had already voted by 5pm (4pm in Lisbon), 12 percentage points more than at the same time in 2022. At 6:30pm the number had risen to 77.8%, a record.
“Hungary’s peace and security may depend on a vote today. This is a decision that cannot be undone tomorrow. We must defend Hungary today! No patriot should stay at home today!”wrote Orbán in the middle of the afternoon on Facebook.
“Today, the nightmare we have lived for years will come to an end”, said Magyar in a video shared on social media, commenting on the high participation and saying that “many Hungarians came together to change the system”.
Candidates were confident
The prime minister voted in the early hours of the morning, confident that he would “win”, making it clear that he is “a young man” (he is 62 years old) and that only a “big” defeat would lead him to resign as leader of Fidesz.
“We are heading towards major crises – not just one, but several, happening simultaneously. Therefore, I believe that we need a strong national unity to… resist the energy crisis, the financial crisis and the coming economic crisis.”
Magyar was confident of victory after exercising his right to vote. “The question is whether we will achieve this two-thirds mandate or whether we will have to govern with a simple majority”he told journalists, remembering that with a “supermajority” it would be easier to “dismantle” the system.
If Tisza manages to win two-thirds of the 199 seats in Parliament, he will be able to rewrite Hungary’s Constitution.
The candidate recalled that the election was a choice between “East or West”, between “propaganda or honest public discourse; corruption or righteous public life.”
The opposition leader also appealed for calm. “No one should give in to any provocation. We know for sure that if this election passes calmly and legally, then this election will be won by Tisza and Hungary”he said.
These elections were closely followed both in the European Union and in Russia and the USA. Magyar’s election could represent a new opportunity for relations between Budapest and Brussels, after 16 years in which Orbán – who does not hide his ties with Vladimir Putin and who has the support of Donald Trump – completely eroded the rule of law and, more recently, served as a brake on sanctions against Russia and support for Ukraine.
European leaders congratulate Hungary
“Hungary chose Europe. Europe has always chosen Hungary. A country resumes its European path. The Union is strengthened”, wrote the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in XA France welcomes the victory of democratic participation, the commitment of the Hungarian people to the values of the European Union and Hungary’s commitment to Europe.
Let us move forward together towards a more sovereign Europe, for the security of our continent, for our competitiveness and for our democracy.
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