Hungarian political outsider Péter Márki-Zay will take on incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the elections next spring. This is what international news agencies conclude on the basis of a preliminary result of the primaries, organized by the entire Hungarian opposition. Now that 74 percent of the votes have been counted, Márki-Zay’s lead is virtually impossible to catch up. The final results of the primaries are expected later in the evening.
Márki-Zay, who does not represent a political party, took on leftist MEP and former first lady Klára Dobrev in this second and final round (Demokratikus Koalíció). He is still far behind her with 57 percent against 43 percent of the vote. Dobrev acknowledged her defeat on Sunday evening.
A third candidate, the mayor of Budapest Gergely Karácsony, had already withdrawn on Friday to make room for Márki-Zay. The likely victory of Márki-Zay, a 49-year-old Catholic and father of seven, comes unexpectedly: before the primaries, only two of the six opposition parties had expressed their support for him.
‘Corrupt dictatorship’
It is the first time that Orbán’s opponents, from the liberals and socialists to the far right, have chosen a joint candidate to end the 12-year monopoly of the incumbent prime minister. The primaries are “an incredible success,” the organizers say. More than 800,000 people cast their votes, or nearly 10 percent of the electorate.
Márki-Zay was appointed mayor in 2018 of Hódmezővásárhely, a stronghold of the ruling Fidesz party about 190 kilometers southeast of the capital Budapest. One of his mission as a ‘disappointed Fidesz voter’ is, in his own words, not to let the ‘corrupt dictatorship’ that Hungary has become ‘not completely sink into the swamp’. He wants to abolish the laws that have put Orbán more firmly in the saddle, while the autonomy of local governments, if it is up to him, is restored. In addition, Márki-Zay says he wants to introduce the euro as a currency.
Hungarian political outsider Péter Márki-Zay will take on incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the elections next spring. This is what international news agencies conclude on the basis of a preliminary result of the primaries, organized by the entire Hungarian opposition. Now that 74 percent of the votes have been counted, Márki-Zay’s lead is virtually impossible to catch up. The final results of the primaries are expected later in the evening.
Márki-Zay, who does not represent a political party, took on leftist MEP and former first lady Klára Dobrev in this second and final round (Demokratikus Koalíció). He is still far behind her with 57 percent against 43 percent of the vote. Dobrev acknowledged her defeat on Sunday evening.
A third candidate, the mayor of Budapest Gergely Karácsony, had already withdrawn on Friday to make room for Márki-Zay. The likely victory of Márki-Zay, a 49-year-old Catholic and father of seven, comes unexpectedly: before the primaries, only two of the six opposition parties had expressed their support for him.
‘Corrupt dictatorship’
It is the first time that Orbán’s opponents, from the liberals and socialists to the far right, have chosen a joint candidate to end the 12-year monopoly of the incumbent prime minister. The primaries are “an incredible success,” the organizers say. More than 800,000 people cast their votes, or nearly 10 percent of the electorate.
Márki-Zay was appointed mayor in 2018 of Hódmezővásárhely, a stronghold of the ruling Fidesz party about 190 kilometers southeast of the capital Budapest. One of his mission as a ‘disappointed Fidesz voter’ is, in his own words, not to let the ‘corrupt dictatorship’ that Hungary has become ‘not completely sink into the swamp’. He wants to abolish the laws that have put Orbán more firmly in the saddle, while the autonomy of local governments, if it is up to him, is restored. In addition, Márki-Zay says he wants to introduce the euro as a currency.
Hungarian political outsider Péter Márki-Zay will take on incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the elections next spring. This is what international news agencies conclude on the basis of a preliminary result of the primaries, organized by the entire Hungarian opposition. Now that 74 percent of the votes have been counted, Márki-Zay’s lead is virtually impossible to catch up. The final results of the primaries are expected later in the evening.
Márki-Zay, who does not represent a political party, took on leftist MEP and former first lady Klára Dobrev in this second and final round (Demokratikus Koalíció). He is still far behind her with 57 percent against 43 percent of the vote. Dobrev acknowledged her defeat on Sunday evening.
A third candidate, the mayor of Budapest Gergely Karácsony, had already withdrawn on Friday to make room for Márki-Zay. The likely victory of Márki-Zay, a 49-year-old Catholic and father of seven, comes unexpectedly: before the primaries, only two of the six opposition parties had expressed their support for him.
‘Corrupt dictatorship’
It is the first time that Orbán’s opponents, from the liberals and socialists to the far right, have chosen a joint candidate to end the 12-year monopoly of the incumbent prime minister. The primaries are “an incredible success,” the organizers say. More than 800,000 people cast their votes, or nearly 10 percent of the electorate.
Márki-Zay was appointed mayor in 2018 of Hódmezővásárhely, a stronghold of the ruling Fidesz party about 190 kilometers southeast of the capital Budapest. One of his mission as a ‘disappointed Fidesz voter’ is, in his own words, not to let the ‘corrupt dictatorship’ that Hungary has become ‘not completely sink into the swamp’. He wants to abolish the laws that have put Orbán more firmly in the saddle, while the autonomy of local governments, if it is up to him, is restored. In addition, Márki-Zay says he wants to introduce the euro as a currency.
Hungarian political outsider Péter Márki-Zay will take on incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the elections next spring. This is what international news agencies conclude on the basis of a preliminary result of the primaries, organized by the entire Hungarian opposition. Now that 74 percent of the votes have been counted, Márki-Zay’s lead is virtually impossible to catch up. The final results of the primaries are expected later in the evening.
Márki-Zay, who does not represent a political party, took on leftist MEP and former first lady Klára Dobrev in this second and final round (Demokratikus Koalíció). He is still far behind her with 57 percent against 43 percent of the vote. Dobrev acknowledged her defeat on Sunday evening.
A third candidate, the mayor of Budapest Gergely Karácsony, had already withdrawn on Friday to make room for Márki-Zay. The likely victory of Márki-Zay, a 49-year-old Catholic and father of seven, comes unexpectedly: before the primaries, only two of the six opposition parties had expressed their support for him.
‘Corrupt dictatorship’
It is the first time that Orbán’s opponents, from the liberals and socialists to the far right, have chosen a joint candidate to end the 12-year monopoly of the incumbent prime minister. The primaries are “an incredible success,” the organizers say. More than 800,000 people cast their votes, or nearly 10 percent of the electorate.
Márki-Zay was appointed mayor in 2018 of Hódmezővásárhely, a stronghold of the ruling Fidesz party about 190 kilometers southeast of the capital Budapest. One of his mission as a ‘disappointed Fidesz voter’ is, in his own words, not to let the ‘corrupt dictatorship’ that Hungary has become ‘not completely sink into the swamp’. He wants to abolish the laws that have put Orbán more firmly in the saddle, while the autonomy of local governments, if it is up to him, is restored. In addition, Márki-Zay says he wants to introduce the euro as a currency.
