Hungary’s former prime minister Viktor Orbán called on his Fidesz party on Saturday to mount “resistance” against the “arbitrary rule” of his successor, Péter Magyar.
In his first major public appearance since his election defeat in April, Orbán told supporters in the Romanian spa town of Băile Tușnad that “Fidesz must now operate in an entirely different way and serve the national resistance.”
In the first weeks of their administration, Magyar and his centrist Respect and Freedom Party, or TISZA, passed constitutional amendments and laws that significantly weaken the Orbán party’s prospects of returning to power. In the future, no one may serve as prime minister more than twice, and no one may serve as a member of parliament more than three times.
Initial investigations by the public prosecutor’s office led to the seizure of Fidesz’s servers last Tuesday on suspicion of illegal campaign financing.
The new government wants to eliminate all opposition, Orbán said in Băile Tușnad. At the same time, he added, it lacks the competence to govern. As early as this autumn, he claimed, it will fail to overcome the crisis that – in his words – will have been triggered by high energy prices and shortages.
Orbán said his party must then “support the groups and organizations of freedom-loving people.”
“[Fidesz] is not functioning as a party right now, but as a service centre, an incubator, a nursery, if you will,” he said.
The venue, Băile Tușnad, is located in the settlement area of the Hungarian ethnic group in Romania. Orbán delivers a policy speech there every summer.