Hungarian opposition leader promises restoration of freedom

Hódmezovásárhely, Hungary, Nov 17 (EFE).- Hungary must restore freedoms that have been stripped by prime minister Viktor Orbán, leader of the Hungarian opposition Péter Márki-Zay said in an interview with Efe.

“One thing we can promise, in one day, is freedom. We have to restore freedom,” the conservative politician and head of a six-party opposition alliance said.

Márki-Zay was elected mayor of Hodmezovasarhely, a small town in the center of the country, in 2018, and is now running for prime minister in Hungary’s upcoming parliamentary elections in April 2022.

The 49-year old father of seven is shaping up to be a serious rival for Orbán, with polls predicting the opposition could gain 37 to 42% of votes, compared to 29 to 45% votes for right-wing populist party Fidesz, which Orbán leads.

According to Márki-Zay, Orbán is an unstable, corrupt, “communist” dictator that goes against Hungary’s national interest.

“Corruption is the main motivator behind all Orbán’s moves,” he said, referring to the prime minister’s drastic changes in ideologies throughout the years.

“Orbán started his political career in the communist youth movement, then he became a radical, harshly, anti-clerical liberal in the 90s and after that he was a conservative harshly anti-Putin, pro-European, coservative politician,” he explained.

Since 2010, Orbán’s policies have shifted towards anti-EU and pro-Putin.

“Putin’s servant, basically, Putin’s representative in the EU, so it is another 180 degrees change in Orban’s policy,” said Márki-Zay.

“It is really a one party state, we have an electoral system, approved by one single party, we have a constitution, approved by one single party, it’s like a communist state, except that corruption is much more prevalent.”