Key facts
- Former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced a new "resistance" movement.
- Orbán accused Prime Minister Péter Magyar's government of "tyranny" and dismantling the rule of law.
- A new constitutional amendment imposes a retroactive 12-year term limit on members of Parliament.
- Orbán's party, Fidesz, has seen its support significantly decline since the April election loss.
- Prosecutors raided Fidesz's data server offices as part of an embezzlement probe.
Former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has declared the formation of a peaceful "resistance" movement against the country's new center-right government, led by Prime Minister Péter Magyar. Orbán, whose 16-year tenure ended with a blowout election loss in April, accused Magyar's administration of "tyranny" and dismantling the rule of law.
Orbán's Fidesz party is protesting a recent constitutional amendment passed by Magyar's Tisza party majority in Parliament. This amendment removed Hungary's Orbán-era president and instituted a retroactive 12-year term limit for members of Parliament, which Orbán claims will exclude roughly half of his party's current representatives from future elections. He likened the new system to the late Communist dictatorship, stating it "is not a democracy, it is tyranny."
Since taking office in May, Magyar's government has moved to dismantle what he calls Orbán's "mafia" by removing political appointees and heads of institutions perceived as enabling Orbán's rule. Actions include suspending the news service of public television and radio, which Magyar described as a "propaganda factory," and closing the Sovereignty Protection Office, viewed by critics as a tool for silencing dissent.
Fidesz has framed these moves as attacks on democracy, while Tisza asserts its actions are fulfilling campaign promises to combat corruption and restore the rule of law. Orbán announced that his party considers any new appointees by Tisza to be "illegitimate" and unveiled a "Declaration of Resistance" aimed at restoring democratic rule of law through peaceful means, both inside and outside Parliament.
Fidesz's support has significantly eroded since the election loss, with recent polls showing Tisza's backing at 60% compared to Fidesz's 18%. The declaration promises to assist "victims of the authoritarian regime" and document alleged violations of law. Adding to the pressure, prosecutors raided Fidesz's data server offices on Tuesday as part of an embezzlement probe, which Orbán denounced as politically motivated and characteristic of "severe dictatorships."