BUDAPEST: Largely unknown to the public until recently, former government insider Peter Magyar has burst onto the political scene in Hungary, vowing to challenge the “power factory” of veteran nationalist premier Viktor Orban.
Magyar, who says he became increasingly disillusioned with the ruling party’s inner workings the more he saw, managed to gather tens of thousands at a rally last week.He denounced Orban and his allies, accusing them of corruption.
Some opposition voters are hoping he may be able to bring down a system firmly under the control of the EU‘s longest-serving leader.
The 43-year-old met AFP in a central Budapest cafe, wearing his signature white shirt and tie.
Under Orban, he said, “there are just slogans used like mantras, and it is all designed to control people and make popular decisions, while in the background they distribute, pass over the national wealth into private hands”.
Magyar is hoping he can bring change by founding a new centrist party in the central European country — judged the EU’s most corrupt by Transparency International.
He says he wants to expose past wrongdoings of government officials in what he describes as the “power factory” built by Orban.
– ‘Moral duty’ –
A lawyer by training, Magyar has long been in the orbit of the ruling Fidesz party.
Since 2010, he worked in the background for Orban’s government as a Brussels-based diplomat dealing with EU matters. Later he became CEO of state-owned student loan provider Diakhitel Kozpont.
“I was always critical internally… But as we went increasingly deeper, the system became more and more horrifying,” said Magyar, whose ex-wife is Fidesz member and former justice minister Judit Varga.
Magyar broke cover last month following the political row over a child abuse pardon scandal.
Orban ally Katalin Novak resigned as president in February after it was revealed she had pardoned a convicted child abuser’s accomplice. Varga too announced she was leaving public life.
It was the most serious crisis of Orban’s 14-year premiership.
“I felt that I had a moral duty to explain how the system worked,” said Magyar, expressing disgust at the “political lynching” Novak suffered from pro-Fidesz propagandists.
His initial social media post, alleging widespread corruption and cronyism as the scandal broke, went viral. A lengthy interview on the independent YouTube channel Partizan garnered more than 2.4 million views.
Magyar has promised he will present an audio recording implicating a government minister in a high-profile graft case, and prosecutors probing corruption questioned him as a witness this week.
– ‘Campaign to discredit him’ –
Magyar was initially dismissed by the government. More recently however, there has been a flood of negative stories attacking him, his family and acquaintances in pro-Fidesz media.
Fidesz mocked the “ravings of a hurt man”, suggesting he wanted “revenge” for “losing his wife and the jobs she has gotten for him”.
Some media reports have also implied he committed domestic violence — an allegation he again dismissed in his interview with AFP.
A recent poll suggested any political party Magyar would form could get around 10 percent in the country of 9.7 million, where elections are due by 2026.
He would capture voters largely disillusioned with the current opposition parties, according to Daniel Rona, director of Budapest-based 21 Research Center think-tank.
But in so doing, he risks “fragmenting the opposition even further,” Rona said.
Magyar, although pro-Western, has been critical of Brussels “intervening in domestic affairs”.
He is against sending arms to Ukraine and severing ties with Russia, echoing Orban, the only EU leader to have maintained ties with Moscow despite its invasion of Ukraine.
“I am very sceptical about his ability to appeal to Fidesz voters,” Rona told AFP.
“I think as time goes by, he will be less and less able to do that,” he added, also noting the “well-organised campaign to discredit him”.
But Magyar is hoping he and his future allies can break through Fidesz’ “propaganda wall”.
“People are beginning to understand that this system may look strong, but as strong as it looks, it can collapse just as quickly,” he said.
“Every avalanche starts with a snowflake. So far we only have a snowball, but I think it’s accelerating and growing,” he added.
Magyar, who says he became increasingly disillusioned with the ruling party’s inner workings the more he saw, managed to gather tens of thousands at a rally last week.He denounced Orban and his allies, accusing them of corruption.
Some opposition voters are hoping he may be able to bring down a system firmly under the control of the EU‘s longest-serving leader.
The 43-year-old met AFP in a central Budapest cafe, wearing his signature white shirt and tie.
Under Orban, he said, “there are just slogans used like mantras, and it is all designed to control people and make popular decisions, while in the background they distribute, pass over the national wealth into private hands”.
Magyar is hoping he can bring change by founding a new centrist party in the central European country — judged the EU’s most corrupt by Transparency International.
He says he wants to expose past wrongdoings of government officials in what he describes as the “power factory” built by Orban.
– ‘Moral duty’ –
A lawyer by training, Magyar has long been in the orbit of the ruling Fidesz party.
Since 2010, he worked in the background for Orban’s government as a Brussels-based diplomat dealing with EU matters. Later he became CEO of state-owned student loan provider Diakhitel Kozpont.
“I was always critical internally… But as we went increasingly deeper, the system became more and more horrifying,” said Magyar, whose ex-wife is Fidesz member and former justice minister Judit Varga.
Magyar broke cover last month following the political row over a child abuse pardon scandal.
Orban ally Katalin Novak resigned as president in February after it was revealed she had pardoned a convicted child abuser’s accomplice. Varga too announced she was leaving public life.
It was the most serious crisis of Orban’s 14-year premiership.
“I felt that I had a moral duty to explain how the system worked,” said Magyar, expressing disgust at the “political lynching” Novak suffered from pro-Fidesz propagandists.
His initial social media post, alleging widespread corruption and cronyism as the scandal broke, went viral. A lengthy interview on the independent YouTube channel Partizan garnered more than 2.4 million views.
Magyar has promised he will present an audio recording implicating a government minister in a high-profile graft case, and prosecutors probing corruption questioned him as a witness this week.
– ‘Campaign to discredit him’ –
Magyar was initially dismissed by the government. More recently however, there has been a flood of negative stories attacking him, his family and acquaintances in pro-Fidesz media.
Fidesz mocked the “ravings of a hurt man”, suggesting he wanted “revenge” for “losing his wife and the jobs she has gotten for him”.
Some media reports have also implied he committed domestic violence — an allegation he again dismissed in his interview with AFP.
A recent poll suggested any political party Magyar would form could get around 10 percent in the country of 9.7 million, where elections are due by 2026.
He would capture voters largely disillusioned with the current opposition parties, according to Daniel Rona, director of Budapest-based 21 Research Center think-tank.
But in so doing, he risks “fragmenting the opposition even further,” Rona said.
Magyar, although pro-Western, has been critical of Brussels “intervening in domestic affairs”.
He is against sending arms to Ukraine and severing ties with Russia, echoing Orban, the only EU leader to have maintained ties with Moscow despite its invasion of Ukraine.
“I am very sceptical about his ability to appeal to Fidesz voters,” Rona told AFP.
“I think as time goes by, he will be less and less able to do that,” he added, also noting the “well-organised campaign to discredit him”.
But Magyar is hoping he and his future allies can break through Fidesz’ “propaganda wall”.
“People are beginning to understand that this system may look strong, but as strong as it looks, it can collapse just as quickly,” he said.
“Every avalanche starts with a snowflake. So far we only have a snowball, but I think it’s accelerating and growing,” he added.