Viktor Orbán’s challenger in the 2022 Hungarian elections is not a trained politician, but got into his current position via detours. Interesting facts about Peter Marky-Zay’s career.
Budapest – Peter Marky-Zay, born on May 9, 1972 in Hódmezővásárhely, will challenge the right-wing conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the spring parliamentary elections as the joint top candidate of the Hungarian opposition. In October 2021, the 49-year-old independent won a primary election organized by the opposition by a clear margin over his social democratic rival Klara Dobrev. Accordingly, Marki-Zay came to 56.71 percent of the vote and Dobrev to 43.29 percent. The liberal-conservative and pro-European politician has been mayor of Hodmezovasarhely, a former stronghold of the ruling party Fidesz, since 2018. Political scientists like to refer to him as a “political outsider”, “anti-establishment candidate”, sometimes even as “the Hungarian Trump”. In the election on April 3, 2022, experts consider Peter Marki-Zay, who often does not mince his words, to be a serious opponent of Orbán.
Peter Marki-Zay – his career
According to Márki-Zay, he is a Christian and a conservative and grew up with two brothers in a religious family in Hódmezővásárhely, which is why he now has a classic conservative family image. The mother is a chemist and the father is a physics teacher. His great-grandfather was the principal of the reformed grammar school in Hódmezővásárhely. He studied marketing at the Budapest School of Economics, economics at the Corvinus University of Budapest and electrical engineering at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Márki-Zay describes himself as a historian, economist, marketer and electrical engineer who lived in Canada and the US from 2004 to 2009, returning to his hometown after five years working abroad. After his return, he first worked for the electricity company in Szeged. He was responsible for strategic planning and later for customer service management. Until 2014 he taught non-profit and business marketing topics at the University of Szeged.
Peter Marki-Zay – his political beginnings
He only got into politics in 2018. At that time he surprisingly won the mayoral election in Hodmezövasarhely. Despite having the support of the Hungarian opposition, there is no major movement behind Márki-Zay – or at least no political party: Márki-Zay is running as the flagship for a coalition of six political parties, ranging from environmentalists to social democrats to far-right and centrist conservatives. He founded the organization “Hungary for All” (Mindenki-Magyarországa Movement) to run as a mayoral candidate in the 2019 local elections and repeat the 2018 election victory. According to its own information, “Hungary for All” has only 6,000 members. The symbol of the united opposition is a blue ribbon.
Peter Marki-Zay – the opposition to his election
After missing out in the local press ahead of the 2018 mayoral election in Hodmezövasarhely and being denied a venue on several occasions, Peter Marki-Zay continued his campaign mainly through social media and leaflets. During the campaign against him, he was publicly attacked by the pastor of his own church. He had to be guarded by the police at his stalls and when collecting references. His opponents tried to prevent his election as mayor by circulating statements such as: that he would close the hospital, that people would be hanged, or that he would build a mosque. A few days before the election, a leaflet listing his supporters was also distributed to all households to intimidate them.
Peter Marki-Zay – his chances in the election
Peter Marky-Zay is a devout Catholic, father of seven children and a conservative from the Hungarian lowlands. In this way, according to Hungarian political scientists, he can appeal to both conservative voters in rural areas and more left-wing voters in the big cities, since his conservatism and cosmopolitanism, tolerance and ability to compromise do not contradict each other. If you ask Marky-Zay about his challenger Viktor Orbán, you often get answers like this: “Orbán is not an opponent of migration. Orbán is not a Christian. Orbán is not a conservative. Orbán is just a thief.” With statements like these, Peter Marki-Zay scores particularly well with young voters. What is interesting is that Orbán is a politician who was also once elected by Marki-Zay. “I thought he was a great conservative and I supported him with all my heart.” Peter Marky-Zay has long since abandoned this opinion: “Many people are realizing that there is now a realistic chance, not a change to the right or left, but: upwards.”
Peter Marki-Zay – his political views
Peter Marki-Zay’s policy stands for equality for all members of society. “It doesn’t matter whether someone is left or right, heterosexual or homosexual, Roma or Jew.” Nevertheless, Marki-Zay – like Viktor Orbán – advocates a tough policy against illegal migration. The model is the USA, where Marky-Zay lived for a few years. Like Orbán, Marki-Zay also wants to generously support families. Like the Protestant Orbán, the Catholic Marki-Zay likes to talk about his Christian values. His difference from Orbán is in the details: Marky-Zay finds it unacceptable how Orbán is trying to undermine democracy and suppress the media. One of his campaign promises, should he be elected, is: “If we eradicate the fundamental evil of corruption, then we can easily solve the country’s other problems.” Despite his charismatic charisma, there are also opinions in Hungary that his statements sometimes and drastic comparisons overshoots the mark. For example: “Fidesz propaganda is reminiscent of the communists or the Nazis. Goebbels would be proud of Viktor Orbán.” His answer to critics is: Such comparisons would be necessary because without controversial statements one would not be heard in Hungary.
Peter Marki-Zay – his private life
Peter Marki-Zay is married to his former schoolmate Felicia Vincze and has seven children. In 2004, he and his wife decided to move to Canada with their children. In Toronto, he took a job as a marketing manager at a large auto parts retailer. They later moved to the United States to help his wife train as a midwife, where Márki-Zay became a board member of a non-profit workforce development organization in her area. When they returned to Hungary after five years, he became Head of Strategic Planning at Szeged Electricity Company, then Head of Customer Service and finally Head of Marketing and Domestic Logistics at Legrand Hungary plc. appointed. In the meantime, he taught non-profit and business marketing at the University of Szeged.
Hungary election 2022 at Merkur.de
All information about the parliamentary elections in Hungary 2022 can be found in our news ticker Merkur.de. We also provide you with the current polls and forecasts as well as the projections and results on election day.
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