Hungary’s Viktor Orban to make ‘significant changes’ in govt
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Newly re-elected Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Tuesday that “significant changes” will be made in his next government.
“We will not continue governing, but a new government will be formed instead,” said Orban, who won a third consecutive term — and fourth overall — in Sunday’s parliamentary election. “We don’t intend to extend the previous term but instead we will open a new term. Thus, significant changes and modifications can be expected.”
Near-complete election results show Orban’s Fidesz party winning a supermajority of 134 seats in the 199-seat national assembly. Votes sent by mail from abroad were still being counted and could slightly alter the current result, but the sweeping victory of Orban, Fidesz, and its small ally, the Christian Democratic party, was not in question.
Critics charge Orban with weakening the democratic system of checks and balances, enriching a new oligarch class of cronies with the help of funds from the European Union and greatly concentrating power. Orban is also pursuing his stated goal of turning Hungary into an “illiberal state” modeled on countries like Russia and Turkey.