Orbán's new challenger?
The Péter Magyar story continues
Yesterday, Péter Magyar, the rising star of the Hungarian opposition, provided a witness statement at the prosecutor's office. Some commentators have referred to the event as "dropping the nuke" because Mr. Magyar promised a recorded conversation with his ex-wife, Judit Varga, a former minister of justice. Before entering the building he also uploaded it to YouTube. The Hungarian public is boiling.
What are they talking about?
They discuss a major corruption scandal involving the court enforcement officers (bailiffs). The bailiffs in Hungary are an independent organization nominally controlled by the Justice Ministry. They are limited in number as each is assigned to a specific district. It's a highly lucrative business, so it is plagued with extreme corruption.
In early 2023, György Schadl, the organization's leader, was arrested while attempting to leave the country with a large sum of cash. Shortly thereafter, documents from an investigation were leaked to the press, revealing that Schadl had given district assignments in exchange for massive kickbacks. To cover up his actions, he had bribed Pál Völner, a senior undersecretary at the Ministry of Justice.
At that time, it was evident that certain individuals were being deliberately excluded from the investigation. In my law office, my partner coined the term "Gerbeaud indictment," named after the renowned Hungarian layered cake, to describe the situation.
People from various levels of the Justice Ministry were indicted in what (at least for the untrained eye) appeared to be random. It was apparent that Schadl's bribery network was much larger than what was being revealed and some individuals were being spared due to political reasons. The scandal never went really big in the inept hands of the Hungarian opposition.
The phone records of György Schadl were leaked to the press, revealing his mention of people named "Tóni" and "Barbi". “Accidentally” the eminence gris of Orbán's government is Antal (Anthony) Rogán, and his wife's name is Barbara, leading to speculation that Schadl was linked to Rogán.
Why is this recording significant?
The recorded conversation between Judit Varga and Péter Magyar is significant because the then-justice minister acknowledges that representatives from at least two ministries, including hers and Rogán's, had gone to the prosecutor's office to discuss changes and omissions in the investigation's material.
This supports the widely held belief that the chief prosecutor, who is formally independent (elected by parliament for a renewable nine-year term), works closely with Orbán's people in cases related to politics. It was also revealed that senior undersecretary Völner had been informed of the investigation, which is a criminal offense punishable by up to ten years in prison.
Magyar goes wild
The government propaganda is struggling to control the situation, as Mr. Magyar's fame is spreading across Budapest and beyond, despite Hungary's tightly controlled media environment.
First attempt: suppress and downplay
Their initial attempt was to dismiss the case as unimportant. They claimed that Judit Varga was merely making baseless claims and unsupported speculations. They even went as far as to say that the promised "nuke" was nothing more than a balloon popping. However, their efforts were in vain, as everyone knew Judit Varga was telling the truth.
As a lawyer with over 15 years of experience, I strongly believe the record is authentic and not forged. It was not, as Ms. Varga alleges, obtained under duress. She is telling the truth about how Orbán’s government obstructs criminal justice.
Second attempt: twist it
The next attempt is to frame this as a quarrel between a divorced couple. Ms. Varga published a lengthy and dramatic Facebook post in which she claimed that their 16 years of marriage were plagued with abuse from her husband. I can’t judge that claim, but the couple’s public image was always very different.
Ms. Varga was appointed to her position to attract a younger group of voters. She was considered the epitome of a modern woman in the government—a young female professional who, along with her young male professional husband, impeccably balanced work and family life. There was no visible indication of any issue, particularly not domestic violence.
Orbán’s government is indifferent to the issue of domestic violence and the marriage of the Magyar-Varga couple. Their primary objective is to draw attention away from the statements made by Ms. Varga. These statements are factual and reveal a situation that is more grave and severe than the infamous Watergate scandal.
The signs of haste are obvious. They had to fire up the propaganda machine almost overnight. Some followers of my Facebook page are on the contact list of government-commissioned polling companies. They told me about increasing activity. The questions revolved around Mr. Magyar’s media impact and the damage Viktor Orbán’s image might have suffered. The results must be bad because they started an all-out attack on Magyar.
They went through a list of their influencers, reporters, and celebrities, and called everyone to battle stations. Millions are being spent on Facebook and TikTok campaigns. Ms. Varga will make an appearance on the YouTube channel of a former gossip show host, Péter Hajdú, to discuss her hardships. Although they are generating a significant amount of noise, the quality of their propaganda lacks the professionalism we have come to expect from Orbán's team.
After giving his witness statement at the prosecutor's office, Mr. Magyar called for a snap demonstration later in the afternoon. Despite only giving six hours' notice, a good few thousand people showed up, which was actually bigger than most opposition events in the past few years. It's worth noting that this was also on a day when the two largest venues - the MVM Dome and the Puskás Arena - were already full due to Depeche Mode being in town and the highly popular national football team playing a home game.
Right now there is no telling where this can lead. Mr. Magyar announced his next event on April 6th. He radiates purpose and determination. The Hungarian public values charisma above everything else. My reading of the current situation is that hasty noisemaking from the government propaganda will only make him stronger. I’ll be (Johann Sebastian) Bach with developments.
Image for the last promise:
https://i.chzbgr.com/full/7465942784/h04CA7BF4/ill-be-bach
s/early 2023/late 2022/
2022-11-05 as far as I remember