Magyar vows – Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar says Tisza’s parliamentary supermajority will create six investigative committees to examine alleged corruption and abuses of power by Viktor Orbán’s government, including suspected misuse of public funds and other politic
Budapest felt like a hinge turning on Tuesday, not just another day of parliamentary business.
Péter Magyar. the Hungarian prime minister. told lawmakers his party’s two-thirds majority would move quickly to set up investigative committees aimed at alleged corruption and abuses of power by Viktor Orbán and his previous government. The promise landed in the middle of a rare political reset in Hungary: Magyar and his center-right Tisza party defeated Orbán in a landslide election last month. ending a political era that critics had long accused of authoritarian drift.
Magyar said six parliamentary investigative committees will be formed. They are meant to examine a range of issues from Orbán’s tenure. including the suspected misappropriation of public funds managed by Hungary’s National Bank. He pointed to a case now under police investigation that potentially involves hundreds of millions of dollars.
“We will put all corruption and abuses of power on full display,” Magyar said. “The Hungarian people have the right to know who benefited from their money, who stole their money, who got rich from the vulnerability of the people.”
For years. critics accused Orbán of widespread misuse of public funds during his 16 years in office. including allegedly funneling lucrative state contracts to family members and to a group of business figures allied with his party. Orbán has also been accused by many opponents of eroding democratic institutions through the use of state power. In 2022, the European Parliament declared that Hungary was no longer a democracy.
Magyar’s push for investigations comes as his government also signals it wants to dismantle structures and privileges built during Orbán’s rule. Since taking office earlier this month. lawmakers from Magyar’s party submitted a constitutional amendment that would limit prime ministers to eight years in office—an approach that would apply directly to Magyar. Orbán, who served four consecutive terms, would not be able to return as prime minister under the proposed cap.
On Tuesday, Magyar said his government would also look into enforcing the eight-year limit on other elected offices. He framed it as a safeguard against power that outlasts accountability. adding: “No one should imagine that electoral authority is inherited forever. Power exercised without limits leads to loss of control over time in any democratic system.”.
The committee plan also reaches beyond finance. Magyar said another investigative committee would examine the details of a pardon issued to an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case by Hungary’s former president, Katalin Novák, a decision that led to her resignation in 2024.
There is also an institutional target on Magyar’s agenda. The new premier has pledged to pass a constitutional amendment that will dissolve Hungary’s Sovereignty Protection Office. an authority created by Orbán’s government in 2023. Magyar said the office was tasked with investigating non-governmental organizations. media outlets. and political parties in the name of preventing foreign influence.
Magyar further vowed to eliminate “political privileges” previously enjoyed by officeholders. His list of changes includes reducing salaries for the prime minister and cabinet members, executives at state companies, and lawmakers.
In the sequence of proposals—committees. constitutional limits. and the dismantling of the Sovereignty Protection Office—Hungary’s new leadership is trying to turn a campaign promise into a government blueprint. Tisza’s parliamentary supermajority gives it the power to act now rather than later. and Magyar appears determined to make the Orbán years a matter of documented scrutiny rather than political debate alone.
Hungary Péter Magyar Tisza party Viktor Orbán investigative committees parliamentary supermajority National Bank corruption allegations Sovereignty Protection Office constitutional amendment eight-year term limit Katalin Novák pardon