Hungary’s long-serving prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has announced he will not take up his parliamentary seat following a landslide election defeat that brought an end to his 16-year rule.
In a video statement released on Saturday, Orbán said he would instead focus on reorganising the country’s nationalist movement. “I am now needed not in parliament, but in the reorganisation of the patriotic movement,” he stated.
Orbán’s الحزب, Fidesz, suffered a dramatic سقوط in the 12 April election, with its seats dropping from 135 to just 52 in the 199-member parliament. Despite the loss, Orbán himself had secured a seat through the party’s proportional representation list but has now chosen to relinquish it.
The opposition party Tisza Party, led by former Fidesz insider Péter Magyar, secured more than a two-thirds majority—giving it the power to reshape Hungary’s political and institutional landscape.
Following an internal party meeting, Orbán confirmed that Gergely Gulyás, previously head of the prime minister’s office, will lead the Fidesz parliamentary group starting Monday.
“The mandate I obtained… is in fact a parliamentary mandate of Fidesz. For this reason, I have decided to return it,” Orbán explained.
His future as party leader will be decided at a Fidesz conference scheduled for June, though he pledged to remain active in shaping the nationalist movement.
Orbán has been a dominant figure in Hungarian politics for decades, holding a parliamentary seat since 1990 and serving as prime minister since 2010. However, mounting public dissatisfaction—driven by allegations of corruption, patronage networks, and declining living standards—appears to have turned voters against him.
The system known as NER, widely criticised for benefiting political loyalists, became a major issue during the campaign.
Hungary’s incoming leadership under Péter Magyar has promised sweeping reforms, including restoring judicial independence, tackling corruption, and reversing controversial changes in education and healthcare.
On foreign policy, the নতুন সরকার is expected to pivot away from Orbán’s close ties with figures like Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, and instead pursue stronger relations with the European Union and Ukraine.
During the campaign, Tisza supporters frequently chanted “Russians go home,” reflecting a broader desire for change in Hungary’s geopolitical stance.
Hungary’s newly elected parliament is set to convene for the first time on 9 May, with Magyar calling for a swift and orderly transfer of power.
Orbán’s departure from parliament marks the end of an era in Hungarian politics, while raising questions about the future direction of both Fidesz and the country as a whole.