After a decisive weekend victory, Peter Magyar met with President Tamas Sulyok on Wednesday and said the new parliament is likely to convene on May 6 or 7. Magyar said the president will ask him at the inaugural session to become prime minister and form a new government as leader of the party that won the most votes.
Magyar’s center-right TISZA party ended 16 years of rule by FIDESZ and outgoing prime minister Viktor Orban. With a landslide that gave TISZA a two-thirds parliamentary majority, the party will be positioned to roll back many of the reforms enacted during FIDESZ’s long tenure.
The election winner has signaled an early and rapid shift away from policies associated with Orban’s so-called illiberal democracy. Magyar told reporters he has asked President Sulyok, an ally of Orban, to step down, saying Sulyok is unfit to embody national unity or to ensure respect for the law.
Magyar also announced plans to suspend the news programming of state-run outlets that many critics view as serving as FIDESZ propaganda. Speaking to Kossuth Radio and the TV channel M1, both part of the MTVA broadcasting group, he said suspending those programs would be among the first actions after the new government is formed. He added that his government would take time to pass a new media law, create an independent media authority, and establish professional conditions for public media to fulfill its intended role.
Critics note that Hungary’s 2010 media law requires objective and balanced reporting, yet state outlets gave preferential coverage to Orban while largely portraying TISZA negatively during the campaign. State-run media also ran a false TISZA manifesto promising much higher taxes and did not give Magyar an opportunity to respond during the campaign.
With the parliamentary session expected in early May, Magyar moves quickly to assemble his government and begin implementing his agenda.