Article #2402

Péter Magyar did not need to dismantle the system – but he understood that Hungarians care more about the cost of living than conspiracies

Hungary’s election delivered an unprecedented victory for Viktor Orbán’s challenger. With a record turnout of nearly 80% and a supermajority for the Tisza party of almost 70% of the seats, this was not merely a change of government: it was a change of regime, compressed into a single election night.

After 16 years in power, Orbán became the victim of his own creation. Hungary’s electoral machinery, carefully engineered to convert a relative majority into overwhelming parliamentary dominance, worked perfectly – just not for him. In the end, the opposition leader, Péter Magyar, did not need to dismantle the system; he simply recognised the rules of the game and played to win. Orbán’s 2011 electoral laws, designed to punish a fragmented opposition, ultimately proved fatal to their creator, when he was faced with a challenger who could turn those winner-takes-all mechanics to his advantage.

Tibor Dessewffy is director of the digital sociology research centre at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, and a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations