The young people who grew up in Orbán’s Hungary and voted for Magyar to remove him from power: “We are making history”

Péter Hungariana different candidate than those that Viktor Orbán defeated in the past, has been able to convince young people to vote for Tiszaa political movement arising from widespread discontent towards the defeated prime minister.

A large number of Hungarians went to the polls with no other political memory than that of Viktor Orbán as prime minister. “We have lived our entire lives within this system and we want to see what life would be like outside of it,” he said. Florian Végha 25-year-old student Associated Press.

The distancing of younger voters from Fidesz, founded by young people who sought change and who then demanded that its members were under 35 years oldis one of the main reasons that has motivated this change in Hungary, explains the political scientist Nora Schultz a The Guardian.

This rejection is widely majority. They are the most critical of the governance of the party that has led the country for four terms and whose prime minister was the oldest in the EU.

Also the lack of support towards Ukraine, with serious accusations against the president Volódimir Zelenskihas not brought Orbán the desired effect. In the previous days he had addressed the young people directly, urging them to “do not fall into experiments” in reference to voting for Magyar.

Levente Koltaia 24-year-old student, tells AP that Fidesz no longer honors its commitment to young people. He has simply “gone from young to old, from democratic to dictatorial tendencyand to behave like a circle of cronies”.

Bettya 24-year-old cashier at a supermarket in Budapest, told The Guardian that Orbán’s fall makes them feel that “they are making history“and he hopes that”come a better future“after 16 years of Fidesz government.

As soon as the first results began to be known on election night, hundreds of young Hungarians began singing “Russians home” in the subway, a sign of discontent with the support provided by Putin to Orbán and the relationship he has maintained with the Kremlin.

His work allows him to see “the weak economy of the country“, the “difficulty” they have to make ends meet, explains the young woman. In addition, she regretted “that there are people around her” who believe “the Government’s propaganda” to justify the situation.

Corruption and economic crisis

While Orbán was only able to convince 8% of young people under 35 years oldthe opponent Tisza was in numbers close to 70%, according to data broken down by Median e Ipsos.

For the essayist Luis García Pradoauthor of Twilight in Budapestof Bibliopolisthe determining factors for the situation in which Orbán found himself were “the weak economic situation and cases of corruption”, according to what he said in conversation with EL ESPAÑOL.

For García Prado, what is striking about the current situation is that the economic crisis has finally weighed on Orbán. In the past, he managed to convince Hungarians that a bad economic situation was due to external external factors to his Government.

For Magyar, presenting himself as someone opposed to corruption – with a moderate profile – but with an ideology marked by the center-right was a tough adversary for an Orbán who has not been able to overcome such a challenge coupled with wear and tear.

Paradoxically, Orbán, in his youth, was the symbol of the beginning of a historic change, in 1989. At that time, he spoke in the Plaza de los Heroes of Budapest to demand the end of the communist dictatorship and request the calling of free elections.

Meanwhile, that base of voters, rooted in the Fidesz leader, they have kept their vote and they have become Orbán’s hope of maintaining power, something that has precisely been a new generation, contrary to him, that has made change possible in the Magyar nation.

His admirers approve of his opposition to immigration and the restriction of LGBT rightsand applaud the benefits for young families. For example, the abolition of income tax for mothers with several children and the provision of state-guaranteed loans to those who buy a home for the first time.

Furthermore, the supplement given to retirees is attractive to older voters, who have mostly kept the vote. According to the latest survey data, entre jubilados, Fidesz aventaja to the Tiszawhich did not even achieve 20% of the vote.

That same square where Orbán’s political career began will be remembered as the beginning of the end for the prime minister.

Thousands of Hungarians met the day before the electionswith the wish that a political changedriven by the young population, will arrive in Hungary and allow them to live in a different country than the one they have known.

Magyar’s victory, in any case, should not be understood by the elected new prime minister as a blank check by his voters.

García Prado opted for the option that Orbán “remained as an opponent” in case of defeat and made a “brutal opposition” to the Tisza Government.

That is why he considers that Magyar will have to commit to making reforms that the population sees “with good eyes” and that have reasons to maintain support in future elections.

On the streets of central BudapestHowever, some were quick to clarify in testimonies collected by The Guardian that their vote was not so much due to the candidate, but rather to the need for change.

“It is not that all young people are Tisza activists“explained Janni, a 21-year-old film directing student.

In fact, he stressed that “he does not sympathize at all with Magyar”, but “we are against this corrupt system” and “it is the only option we have.” He simply voted to “end this stage,” he said.