Hungary Just Showed How to Kick Out a Strongman

"Hungary's authoritarian Fidesz government tried to ram through Parliament a Transparency of Public Life Bill. Had it passed, the bill, modeled on Russian legislation outlawing so-called "foreign agent" organizations, would have allowed the government to criminalize any civil society organization or independent media outlet that in any way accepted, even unknowingly, foreign funds."

"It proved a bridge too far. Hungarians protested in huge numbers. Behind the scenes, according to Hungarian analysts I have spoken with, even some of Viktor Orbán's political pals balked at the legislation. Days before it was due to be rubber-stamped by the Fidesz-controlled legislature, the government abruptly pulled the bill."

"In hindsight, it marked the moment that Hungarians began to realize the power of an aroused, organized, and infuriated public and started to believe in the possibility that-despite the prime minister's manipulation of the electoral system and despite his use both of state-run and oligarch-owned media as propaganda tools-Orbán could be voted out of office."

"Orbán was, indeed, defeated. His opponents gained a parliamentary supermajority. Yet the dethroned Hungarian leader's vision of an "illiberal democracy"-a fortress state within which the populist right could fight its culture wars and demonize its opponents as the enemy within all while an oligarchy looted the state and flouted the law-remains a potent one for MAGA here in the United States."

Hungary’s Fidesz government attempted to pass a Transparency of Public Life Bill modeled on Russian “foreign agent” legislation. The bill would have enabled criminalization of civil society organizations and independent media that accepted foreign funds, even unknowingly. Large public protests and internal resistance led the government to abruptly withdraw the bill before it could be rubber-stamped. The episode helped Hungarians believe that despite electoral manipulation and propaganda through state and oligarch media, Viktor Orbán could be voted out. Orbán was later defeated, though his “illiberal democracy” vision remains influential. Similar tactics are being used in the United States by Trump and allies.

Read at The Nation