Prime minister-elect promises ‘new era’ for country after defeating far-right Viktor Orbán
Hungary’s prime minister-elect, Péter Magyar, has pledged to pursue those who “plundered, looted, betrayed, indebted and ruined” his country, promising “a new era” after a landslide election victory over his far-right predecessor Viktor Orbán.
Magyar, whose centre-right Tisza party won at least 138 of the 199 seats in parliament, said the full election results should be confirmed by 4 May and he hoped his government could be installed the next day.
“Our country has no time to waste,” he said during a wide-ranging press conference on Monday. “We will do everything in our power to ensure this truly marks the beginning of a new era ... The Hungarian people didn’t vote for a simple change of government, but for a complete change of regime.”
Magyar, a former Orbán loyalist, secured a decisive two-thirds supermajority that should allow him to roll back laws that helped the outgoing nationalist prime minister transform Hungary into an “illiberal democracy” during his 16 years in power.
