On Saturday in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, there was a demonstration attended by tens of thousands of people in support of Péter Magyar, who for a few months has been at the head of a movement that has become the largest opposition force to the government semi-authoritarian and far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The event took place a few hours before the start of the European elections in Hungary, where the polls opened at 6am on Sunday 9 June. From the stage at the event, Magyar said: “Whatever the outcome of tomorrow’s vote, we have already defeated apathy.”
The latest polls give his party TISZA (Tisztelet és Szabadság, Respect and Freedom) at 25 percent, an excellent result for a recently created party, but still far lower than the 47 percent expected for Orbán’s party, Fidesz. For now Magyar is the best-known person in his party, but TISZA has presented 12 candidates for the European elections and four candidates for the Budapest local elections, which are held at the same time as the European elections.
Péter Magyar is 43 years old, a lawyer and says he is inspired by French President Emmanuel Macron. He is a former ally of Orbán and a former member of his party, Fidesz, from which he left a few months ago, obtaining good and immediate support. His candidacy, together with some major scandals that have hit the government in recent months, has put Orbán in difficulty: Magyar has actively contributed to making some of these scandals public and has exploited the resulting popularity, making his party the main opposition movement to the Hungarian government, although historically opposition parties in the country still view it with distrust due to its political history.
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