Péter Magyar: The long-awaited Messiah of Hungarian politics?
Politics in Hungary is buzzing with excitement. We have a new Messiah!
In February, a major political scandal unfolded in Hungary. The President granted a pardon to Endre K., a former teacher at an orphanage, who had been found guilty of concealing child abuse that had taken place at the institution. This caused widespread outrage across the political spectrum, as protecting children is a key message of the government. The subsequent protest at Budapest's Heroes Square was the largest since the 1956 revolution. In an effort to limit political fallout and save face, Viktor Orbán ordered both the President of Hungary, Katalin Novák, and the former justice minister, Judit Varga, to resign.
The scandal erupted in the early phase of the election campaign leading up to the June elections. However, given Orbán's immense financial resources and control over the media, it was expected that things would settle down by March 15th, which marks the beginning of the Hungarian political season.
Mr. Magyar is 45 years old male and the father of three children. He comes from an upper-middle-class background and has a track record of hating former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány. His views are conservative. These are, incidentally, the criteria of a successful Hungarian politician.
The interview with Mr. Magyar at Partizán was the hit of the season. Since then, he has given several more interviews to convince people he is a suitable challenger to Orbán. Although he started his party too late to participate in the EP and municipal elections, he might be able to acquire one of the smaller parties known as "dwarf parties". These parties were registered for the general elections in 2014 and 2018, and the criteria for state aid were intentionally lowered for them. This led to an influx of new parties that crowded the ballot in the elections. Currently, these parties are dormant, and most are up for sale.
On March 15th, the anniversary of the glorious revolution of 1848, political parties usually organize events portraying themselves as the true heirs of the revolution's heroes. Meanwhile, their opponents are depicted as modern-day followers of the Habsburg oppressors.
On March 15th, Mr. Magyar’s event attracted the largest audience. The event was refreshingly well-organized and well-composed. During the event, Mr. Magyar outlined his moderate conservative vision, which included a hint of social justice. The event concluded with people singing and reciting the National Song, a patriotic revolutionary poem written in 1848.
Mr. Magyar claimed to have "devastating" information that would harm the credibility (or maybe force them to abdicate) of the Hungarian government. However, he has yet to reveal this information, leaving many people in the dark about what he plans to do. Furthermore, his plans for the upcoming elections remain unknown.
Despite this, Mr. Magyar has become the center of attention in Hungarian politics, overshadowing both the government and opposition.
I have teamed up with HVG, a leading Hungarian political newspaper, for a podcast series on the election campaign. Although the planned topic was the campaign itself, we have spent most of our time discussing Mr. Magyar's recent actions, along with many other analysts and pundits in Hungarian politics. While some people are celebrating Mr. Magyar's actions, others view him as a traitor from Orbán’s outfit with no credibility.
Mr. Magyar is set to reveal his "devastating" evidence of the government's involvement in a major corruption scandal tomorrow, which will likely keep him in the spotlight for the next few weeks instead of the election campaign.
In the past two weeks, I have been repeatedly asked whether Mr. Magyar’s appearance in Hungarian politics will weaken Orbán, mark the end of an era, or is Magyar the Lisan al Gaib. However, my answer remains the same—only time will tell.