Outgoing prime minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary has announced that he will not be taking his seat in the National Assembly for the 2026–2030 parliamentary cycle.
This is a major development in Hungarian history that signals the beginning of a new era. Orbán has held a seat in parliament since the very first parliamentary election of the Third Hungarian Republic, following the fall of the communist regime, in April 1990.
The outgoing head of government posted a video message to his Facebook page after he had met with the leadership of his right-wing conservative Fidesz Party on Saturday, 25 April. This was just his second public video post since the 12 April election, which ended in a landslide victory for the opposition Tisza Party.
In the video, PM Orbán said:
‘Discussions are ongoing full-throttle about the renewal of the national side, our parliamentary faction, and the protection of our communities. We have listened to all of our candidates for Members of Parliament. We need the experience, opinion, and will to act of all the members of our community. We have also made some important decisions. We will completely overhaul our parliamentary group. The new faction will be established on Monday, and it will be led by [outgoing minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s Office] Gergely Gulyás.
The mandate I won as the leader of the national list is, in fact, the parliamentary mandate of the Fidesz Party. Therefore, I have decided to give it back. At this time, I am not needed in parliament, but in the reorganization efforts of the national side…I have been leading our community for nearly four decades, during which we have had our share of successes and failures, election victories and losses. One thing, however, never changed: this camp has always been the most united and most convergent political community, and Hungary still needs this unity today too.’
However, PM Orbán also shared that he would be willing to continue his work as the Chairman of Fidesz, a position he has held since 2003, if he were to be reelected at the party convention in June.
The party’s choice for their new parliamentary leader, Gergely Gulyás, is an interesting one. Gulyás was a close friend and associate of prime minister-elect Péter Magyar of the Tisza Party. The two have earned national recognition together for providing free legal counsel to the victims of police brutality during the October 2006 protests against then-prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány.
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