Is This Viktor Orban's Last Stand?

"Viktor Orbán, Hungary's autocratic prime minster, shouldn't have had anything to worry about in the run-up to the April 12 general election. In four previous votes, he and his Fidesz party-a far-right trailblazer in Europe-triumphed handily, securing two-thirds majorities in parliament in every election since 2010. Orbán's governments overhauled the Hungarian state in Fidesz's image and tried to craft a system that would perpetrate Fidesz rule indefinitely."

"And, yet, Fidesz is trailing a new opposition party, Tisza, by double digits and the buttons that Orbán's pushed so deftly for 16 years-immigration, Hungarian nativism, anti-LGBTQ, "peace"-aren't triggering Hungarians as they had in the past. Magyars appear fed up with the economic backlash of lost EU funding, the high cost of living, ubiquitous corruption, and a long trail of unseemly scandals."

"The gale-force storm has observers cautiously convinced that Tisza (Respect and Freedom Party) could upend Orbán's "embedded autocracy." Two of Hungary's most astute analysts, Andras Bozoki and Zoltan Fleck, describe Orbán's government as a highly centralized regime that is so deeply entrenched in the composition of society and in control of pseudo-democratic structures that it locks in its own electoral continuation."

Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party dominated Hungarian politics since 2010, securing two-thirds parliamentary majorities and reshaping the state to entrench their rule. Strong external backing included Russia, former U.S. President Donald Trump, and China. The new opposition party, Tisza (Respect and Freedom Party), leads by double digits as Fidesz's core messages—immigration, nativism, anti-LGBTQ, and appeals to "peace"—have lost traction. Public anger centers on lost EU funding, high living costs, pervasive corruption, and scandals including a presidential resignation over a controversial pardon and videos exposing abuse in state juvenile facilities that sparked mass protests. Analysts describe the regime as a centralized, pseudo-democratic embedded autocracy.

Read at The Nation