Hungarian Opposition Unites in Prime Minister Race

Péter Márki-Zay is set to challenge incumbent Viktor Orbán in next year’s prime ministerial election. (Wikimedia Commons)

Conservative Péter Márki-Zay clinched the opposition coalition’s nomination for Prime Minister of Hungary on October 17, setting him up to challenge the long-ruling Fidesz party of current Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Márki-Zay, currently the mayor of Hódmezővásárhely in southeast Hungary and a representative of the Everyone’s Hungary Movement (MMM), secured the nomination in the second round of balloting with just under 57 percent of the vote. He edged out Klára Dobrev of the Democratic Coalition (DK), as six opposition parties unified to select a common candidate. 

Márki-Zay, a political newcomer who assumed his current mayorship in 2018, now turns his attention to challenging Orbán, who has held the title of prime minister since 2010. He faces the challenge of unifying ideologically dissonant factions of the new, multi-party coalition. 

However, Márki-Zay does enjoy the explicit support of allied party leaders outside of the MMM, including Dobrev. The defeated DK candidate called Márki-Zay to congratulate him on his win. Addressing DK voters after his victory, Márki-Zay expressed his desire to “fight together to topple the Orbán regime.”

Ferenc Gyurcsany, the leader of the DK, demonstrated a similar sentiment, arguing that his voters should consider the coalition effort more important than the party itself. Gyurcsany believes that the defeat of Orbán represents the collective imperative, with whom he has long clashed over issues ranging from LGBTQ+ rights to political corruption. 

“Having the opposition on one side,” Gyurcsany said, “is one of the greatest gifts, not just for DK, but for democratic Hungary, for those in favor of the republic, and for Europeans.” 

Márki-Zay continues to be a forceful critic of Orbán’s, articulating his differences with the incumbent in an October 21 interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, focusing on issues of migration, corruption, and democracy. 

“We need to treat people humanely wherever they are coming from and also we should never, ever conduct hate campaigns against any minorities, any groups of people,” the nominee told Amanpour. 

Márki-Zay went on to highlight a concerning shift towards authoritarianism in the prime minister’s office, arguing that “Orbán really managed to switch off all the checks and balances.” Recent constitutional changes, as well as a strong Fidesz parliamentary majority, he claims have given Orbán too much unilateral power. 

In response, Orbán and his Fidesz allies have sought to cast Márki-Zay, who ran as a conservative, as a left-wing extremist. Máté Kocsis, the group leader of Fidesz, specifically tried to establish an ideological connection between Márki-Zay and the DK’s Gyurcsany, who previously served as a Socialist Prime Minister of Hungary. 

“It has been decided that Péter Márki-Zay will be the one on the back of whom Ferenc Gyurcsány will try to get back into power,” Kocsis said, highlighting Gyurcsany’s endorsement of  Márki-Zay’s candidacy. He went on to invoke fears of higher taxes and lower wages under the supposedly left-wing government. 

Whether these rhetorical tactics are working, polls show Márki-Zay struggling to connect with right-wing voters. Among his supporters, a mere 9 percent identify as right-wing, with 44 percent identifying as left-wing and 45 percent as centrists. 

The election, expected to take place in 2022, remains competitive. Politico’s European polling tells the story of a veritable horse race, with the October 6 poll average showing Fidesz and the United Opposition in a dead heat, each with 47 percent support.