Orbán said Saturday he will not take a seat in Hungary’s new parliament after his party suffered a landslide election loss, instead focusing on rebuilding his political community outside the legislature. In a video posted to Facebook, the outgoing Prime Minister said his party’s parliamentary caucus would be “radically transformed” following the defeat.
“Our task now is not in parliament,” Orbán said, but in the “reorganization” of his political camp that he calls the “national side.” He said his community-building role extends beyond the new legislature, adding that he has led it “for nearly four decades.”
Orbán also indicated that he plans to remain party leader of Fidesz after the party’s congress convenes in June to elect its leader. He did not describe a role for himself in government, but he told supporters that the parliamentary caucus would change after the April vote.
Hungary’s April 12 election ended Orbán’s 16 years in power, according to the announcement and the wider election outcome reported by the Associated Press. Voters chose a center-right challenger led by Péter Magyar, whose Tisza party won a two-thirds majority that gives it room to undo many of Orbán’s policies.
The changes expected from Magyar’s parliamentary majority will take effect when the new parliament forms on May 9. That date will mark the first time since Hungary’s transition from state socialism in 1990 that Orbán will not hold a seat among lawmakers.
The Associated Press reported that Magyar’s party gained 141 seats out of 199 in the new parliament, while Orbán’s far-right, euroskeptic Fidesz party won 52 seats, down from 135 before the election.