Hungary’s Opposition Has New Face that Orban Will Paint as Part of the Past

Marki-Zay, or MZP as he's known more colloquially, was polling so poorly before the first round of the primaries on September 18-28 that it seemed highly unlikely he would be among the top three candidates to make it through to the second and final round held on October 10-16. But then he did, with only 21 per cent of the vote. And then, with the help of a high turnout and the tactical withdrawal of Karacsony, he easily defeated Dobrev with almost 57 per cent of the vote.

More than 850,000 ballots were cast during the opposition primaries out of the 8 million voters in Hungary - which means that almost 11 per cent of voters participated. That would qualify high even by the standards of countries where primaries are traditionally held, such as the US and France. With more than 370,000 votes cast in total for Marki-Zay, he enjoys strong legitimacy among the opposition.

For months, the ruling party of Fidesz wrote off Marki-Zay as someone with zero chance of being the candidate who would take on Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the 2022 election, instead preparing for either Karacsony or Dobrev as the challenger. The surprise win by the mayor of Hodmezovasarhely, therefore, presents a big threat to the current government, which has built its reputation and past three landslide electoral successes on a manufactured idea of stability and predictability.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (R) and Marine Le Pen (L), President of the National Rally of France, hold a joint press conference in Orban's office in Budapest, Hungary, 26 October 2021. EPA-EFE/FISCHER ZOLTAN Popular rather than populist

With this win, Marki-Zay has been elevated into the position of de-facto leader of the six-party joint opposition, without even...