Let’s not rush to bury Orbán. The matter is more complicated [OPINIA]

Firstly, TISZA is cannibalising the opposition electorate, and Fidesz is only nibbling away at it. Secondly, Magyar is almost a copy of Orbán at the beginning of his journey. And thirdly, Fidesz has failed to reform the decree and the electoral code several times in order to democratically hand over power. Let’s start from the beginning. The political system is becoming bipolar again. We saw something similar in 1998, when the scene was divided into left-liberal and right-conservative camps. Unlike this situation, the confrontation between Fidesz and TISHA is a confrontation between two right-wing parties.

They differ mainly in their position on the scale of extremes and especially in the rhetorical layer. After the 2014 migration crisis, Fidesz fought for the leadership of the right. It completely accepted it, forcing the far-right Jobbik to march towards the center. After the disaster of the united opposition project in 2022, Hungarians lost faith in the possibility of turning the tables. Those elections were extremely unequal and all government propaganda repeated like a mantra that the opposition wanted to send Hungarian soldiers to the Ukrainian front. The Russian invasion became a catalyst for the opposition’s defeat.

Magyar, born in 1981, is a man who has acquired enormous wealth as part of the Orbán system. His great advantage is his knowledge of the rules of the game. For months he also gave the impression of being someone who possessed material that could incriminate those in power, but he has not revealed anything important. Magyar presents himself as someone who has a secret recipe for defeating Orbán. However, his views are not yet fully defined, although half a year has passed since the rally at which he declared his desire to establish a political movement.