Former Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, declared that he is not needed in parliament at the moment, but rather in organizing the national camp. The outgoing nationalist prime minister announced that he would resign his seat as a member of parliament after his party alliance suffered a crushing electoral defeat following his 16 years in power.
Orban was defeated on April 12 by a newcomer to the political scene, pro-EU conservative Peter Magyar, whose party won a two-thirds majority in parliament during an election marked by record turnout in the Central European country. The 62-year-old nationalist leader, who has continuously served in the Hungarian parliament since the country’s democratization in 1990, called for a “complete renewal” of his party last week.
“I have decided to return the seat I won as the head of the Fidesz-KDNP list, which is actually a parliamentary seat for Fidesz. At the moment, I am not needed in parliament, but for the organization of the national camp,” Orban stated in a video posted on Facebook after a meeting of Fidesz party’s executive committee.
Orban added that the party leadership had recommended him to stay to continue his work as the Fidesz president and that he was “ready for this task” if confirmed at the party congress in June. Peter Magyar, who won the elections promising a “regime change,” accused Orban of corruption.
“The ‘courageous’ street fighter remains unable to do one thing: take responsibility… With a mafia boss in charge, there can be no democratic opposition,” the new prime minister stated on Facebook.
The Hungarian National Assembly is set to hold its inaugural session on May 9, where new members of parliament will take their oaths. Magyar’s Tisza party secured 141 seats, while Orban’s Fidesz-KDNP lost 52 seats, and the far-right Our Homeland party won 6, in the 199-member National Assembly.
