Hungary’s opposition leader Peter Magyar vowed at a Budapest rally to end corruption, restore civil liberties and revive a stalled economy, sharpening his challenge to Prime Minister Viktor Orban ahead of the April 12 parliamentary election.
Magyar, head of the Tisza party, has emerged as the most potent threat to Orban since the nationalist leader returned to power in 2010. Tisza has led Orban’s Fidesz party in opinion polls for months, turning the race into the most competitive contest in more than a decade.
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“Not only has the Hungarian economy not taken off, but it has hit a dead end,” Magyar told hundreds of supporters, one day after Orban used his state of the nation address to promise a continuation of his hard-line policies. Framing the vote as a referendum on corruption and rights, he added: “It is time to call corruption by its name: theft,” accusing Orban’s allies of diverting billions of dollars.
Magyar pledged “total transparency in contracts involving public funds” and vowed to “recover” money he said Hungary “has been deprived of over 16 years.” He accused the government of surveilling political opponents and promised to bolster civil liberties. “If they can search through my private life, then they can rummage through everyone’s,” he said, promising “a country where everyone can live in peace.”
Opposition activists and rights groups have long accused Orban of sidelining critical voices in the judiciary, academia and media, and of rolling back protections for minority communities. In his weekend speech, Orban signaled he would press on, vowing a crackdown on what he called “pseudo-civil organisations, bought journalists, judges, politicians,” and asserting his work was only “half done” as he urged supporters to return him to office.
Magyar challenged the prime minister to a public debate before election day, while labeling Orban a “puppet” of foreign powers. His rally coincided with the arrival in Budapest of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for a meeting with Orban, underscoring the international scrutiny the campaign has drawn. Former U.S. President Donald Trump praised Orban on social media Friday, calling his results in Hungary “phenomenal,” and Orban has maintained close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Magyar’s pitch blends anticorruption promises with a pledge to reset relations between the state and citizens after years of political polarization. He has cast Tisza as a clean-government alternative to Fidesz, betting that a message of transparency and institutional restraint can dislodge an entrenched ruling party. His camp argues that economic stagnation, high-profile graft allegations and a steady drip of rights concerns have created an opening that did not exist in past cycles.
Orban, for his part, is leaning on a familiar playbook: presenting himself as a bulwark against perceived external interference and domestic adversaries he portrays as elites or proxies. His base remains sizable and organized, and Fidesz has proved resilient in previous elections under pressure. The April 12 vote will test whether Magyar’s surge can translate into seats and whether the opposition can unify enough of the electorate to end Orban’s long grip on power.
The weeks ahead promise a stark contrast: Magyar’s call for transparency and civil liberties versus Orban’s pledge to intensify a campaign against what he describes as hostile institutions and actors. With polls tight and international attention focused on Budapest, Hungary’s election is shaping up as a pivotal contest over the country’s direction at home and its posture abroad.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
