Péter Magyar has been elected Prime Minister of Hungary, marking a significant political transition with promises of systemic reform and national reconciliation.
Hungary’s new National Assembly formally elected Péter Magyar as prime minister on Saturday (9 May).. Of his Tisza party’s 140 MPs, one abstained, and 54 MPs voted against.. The crowd filling Kossuth Square broke out in cheers.. “I stand before you, deeply moved,” Magyar began, in his long speech in parliament after taking the prime ministerial oath, a speech that was for the most part an indictment of Viktor Orbán’s system.. “For this homeland, our
predecessors gave their lives,” he said after an introduction, adding that he would like to live up to the example of predecessors such as Lajos Batthyány, Imre Nagy and József Antall.. Magyar told MPs he felt the responsibility, and had seen not only the good examples — but also what power can do to a prime minister.. “I will not rule over Hungary, I will serve my homeland,” he said.. He thanked Hungarians for the
unprecedented path they had taken over the past two years.. As he put it, Hungarians had given a mandate to bring to an end the drift of past decades and to change the system.. However, a fresh start requires facing up to the past, delivering justice and reconciliation.. “It is symbolic that the two eponymous figures, Viktor Orbán and Ferenc Gyurcsány are not sitting here on these benches,” Magyar said, arguing that the ex-PMs Orbán
and Gyurcsány failed as human beings, as politicians, and morally.. The new prime minister listed Hungary’s problems, from poverty and social inequalities through the difficulties in healthcare and education to housing problems and the crisis in child protection.. He also recalled the major corruption scandals.. In Magyar’s telling, the victims of the previous system include Fidesz voters, voters of the hard-right Mi Hazánk and leftwing voters alike.. “What happened is not the fault of the
Hungarian people,” but of a narrow elite.. “Hungary will be the shared home of every Hungarian,” he said.. The new premier said that among the first bills to be submitted in the new National Assembly will be the law on the National Office for Asset Recovery and Protection.. The office will operate independently of the government and will not be a political tool.. He declared that political connections, loyalty or long-standing acquaintanceship will not exempt
anyone from accountability.. “Hungary will no longer be a country without consequences.” He again called on president Tamás Sulyok and those heads of institutions who were the servants of the previous system to resign.. Addressing the head of state directly, Magyar listed the many occasions on which he should have spoken up, but remained silent.. The politicians of the previous regime did not do so, but as prime minister, Magyar apologised to the victims of
failed the child protection system.. He also apologised to those whom the state failed to protect in recent years, and to the civil activists, teachers, journalists, healthcare workers and public figures who were stigmatised or persecuted for raising their voices or holding different views.. He stated that it must never happen again that propaganda keeps the country in fear.. He called on citizens to keep politicians under scrutiny and to hold them to their promises..
He urged them to talk to one another and rise above political divisions.. He gave a long list of all those for whom the new government will work — people who have not been appreciated so far, from children in difficult circumstances to public employees, teachers, healthcare workers, police officers and firefighters.. Magyar again outlined their intention to build a humane Hungary in which everyone can live their life in dignity and does not have
to be in a difficult financial situation.. He also spoke about launching a review of Hungary’s constitutional system, opening the secret police files, and limiting the prime minister’s mandate to two terms.
Péter Magyar, Hungary politics, Prime Minister, Tisza party, Hungarian government, political reform, systemic change