Fidesz is likely to win a relative majority of votes in Sunday’s European Parliament elections, but Peter Madyar’s opposition party could gain up to 30% and lead to a loss of seats for Fidesz.
In Budapest, on the eve of the EU elections, the leader of the largest opposition force, Peter Madyar, gathered thousands of people for a demonstration. AP reported this on Saturday, June 8.
Madyar, who a few months ago created Hungary’s strongest opposition party, hopes to use a good result in Sunday’s EU elections to propel himself and his movement to defeat Orban in the next national elections, scheduled for 2026.
The opposition leader addressed the crowd that packed Heroes’ Square in Budapest, saying he and his movement would build a “more beautiful, peaceful and happy country” and end Orban’s 14 years in power.
“I was the spark that started the engine of change,” he said.
Before this, an insider to Orban’s Fidesz party, Madyar quickly became known for publicly accusing the prime minister and his allies of corruption and anti-democratic tendencies.
However, the latest polls show that Fidesz is likely to win a relative majority in Sunday’s elections, but Madyar’s Respect and Freedom Party (TISZA) could get up to 30% and result in Fidesz losing seats in 21-member Hungarian delegation to the EU legislature.
TISZA has built a support base among voters who are disappointed with both Orbán’s illiberal form of leadership and Hungary’s traditional opposition parties, which have failed to mount a serious challenge to the populist leader’s rule since 2010.
Madyar rejected Orbán’s accusations that he – or any other Hungarians – are “warlike.” In a May interview with the AP, he was clear about the potential dangers of allowing Russia to hold on to Ukrainian territories it occupies, including the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
In his final address to voters before Saturday’s election, he said he would end Orban’s “propaganda of fear” and work for a country where “there is no left or right, only Hungarians.”
Let’s recall that in March Madyar published an audio recording indicating a government conspiracy to protect corruption schemes. After that, Hungary was rocked by protests.
Orban has a problem. Corruption scandal in Hungary
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.