Viktor Orbán appeared shaken on Thursday in his first public comments since his historic defeat in the April 12 election, admitting that “a political era is over” in Hungary — but signaling he will not step down as leader of his Fidesz party as it moves into opposition.
In an interview with the pro-government media outlet Patrióta, the outgoing prime minister acknowledged the scale of his party's defeat in remarkably straightforward terms. "This is a clear defeat," he said. "The scale of the defeat is huge," Politico reported.
On Sunday, Péter Magyar's opposition Tisza party scored a decisive victory, taking 138 seats in Hungary's 199-seat parliament. Its constitutional two-thirds majority left Fidesz with just 55 seats.
Orbán, who has led Hungary for 16 years, took a somber tone throughout the interview, describing the fallout from the election in personal terms. “I felt pain and emptiness,” he said, adding that he had thrown himself into his job as “occupational therapist” to cope with the shock. “I thought we were going to win too,” he admitted.
Hungary has already begun signaling a break with Orbán’s nationalist-populist rule, vowing to move the prime minister’s office from Budapest’s Carmelite Palace. Orbán will also not attend next week’s informal European Council meeting in Cyprus, according to an EU official who spoke to POLITICO, highlighting how quickly the end of his long term is approaching.
Orbán did not deny responsibility for the defeat in his interview. “It’s me. I am the party president,” he said, adding that he took the result “100 percent for myself.” He acknowledged that Fidesz had failed to connect with the electorate: “I have to admit that the opponent’s message was stronger,” he said, referring to the promise of change focused on rooting out corruption and dismantling Orbán’s political machine.
But the defeated prime minister said he was going nowhere. His defeat requires a “complete overhaul” of Fidesz and the broader Hungarian right, he said, including a complete overhaul of the party’s leadership and representation in parliament. A party convention is scheduled for April 28.
“If my community tells me to stay in the background, I will do that,” Orbán said. “But if they tell me to take the team out on the field as captain, I will be there too.” /Gazeta Express
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