Orban Opponent on the Rise Promises to Take Country Back

A rising challenger to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban mobilized tens of thousands of supporters in Hungary's capital on Saturday, outlining a plan to unite the country and bring an end to the populist leader's 14-year hold on power. At the center of the demonstration, the latest in a recent series of protests against Orban's right-wing nationalist government, was political newcomer Peter Magyar. The former insider within Hungary's ruling Fidesz party has shot to prominence in recent weeks through his allegations of entrenched corruption and cronyism among the country's leaders, the AP reports. Magyar has said he will found a new party that will run in EU and municipal elections this summer.

Magyar addressed a crowd that filled the sprawling square near the parliament building in Budapest, announcing his creation of a new political community aimed at uniting conservative and liberal Hungarians. "Step by step, brick by brick, we are taking back our homeland and building a new country, a sovereign, modern, European Hungary." Magyar, 43, was once a member of Orban's political circle. But he broke ranks in February in the wake of a political scandal and has amassed a large following with frequent media appearances where he portrays Hungary's political life as having been taken over by a privileged group of oligarchs and anti-democratic elites.

"More than 20 years have passed as our elected leaders have incited the Hungarian people against each other," Magyar told the gathering. "Whether the fate of our country went well or we were close to bankruptcy, we were pitted against each other instead of allowing us to band together. We will put an end to this now." Orban's critics accuse him of eroding democratic institutions, taking over large swaths of the media and altering the election system to give his party an advantage. The EU has withheld billions in funding over alleged democratic backsliding, misuse of EU funds, and failure to guarantee minority rights. "I want to live in a normal rule-of-law state where the principles of the rule of law are really adhered to, not only on paper, but in reality," said Zoltan Koszler, one of the demonstrators. (Orban still has a supporter in Florida.)