Hungary's new PM sworn in during 'regime change' party
Just nowNick ThorpeBudapest correspondentReutersPeter Magyar was sworn in on Saturday, almost a month after he won a landslide victory in Hungary's electionHungary's new prime minister, Péter Magyar, has been sworn in, almost a month after he steered his Tisza party to a landslide victory, sweeping away 16 years of rule by Viktor Orbán.Tisza holds 141 seats out of 199 in the new parliament - up from zero, a result of the party being founded just two years ago.Tens of thousands of people are expected to take part in a "celebration of freedom and democracy" outside parliament in Budapest, along the shores of the Danube. Magyar has told Hungarians to step through the "gateway of regime change".Orbán's Fidesz party crumbled from 135 to 52 seats, and shows signs of imploding.Each day brings new revelations or allegations of corruption against a party which has governed Hungary almost unchallenged since 2010. Magyar has promised a "change of system" as well as a change of government.It is not known whether Orbán will attend Saturday's opening session of parliament, even as a simple guest."The main priority is to set up the government... on the ruins of the previous one," Zoltán Tarr, incoming Minister for Social Relations and Culture, told the BBC."We are ready to face a very grim economic situation. But at the moment, we just don't know the severity."A spending spree initiated by the Orbán government in the past eight months came on top of years in which state contracts and funds were channelled to business circles close to Fidesz. The budget deficit has already swollen close to the planned target for the whole year.AFP via Getty ImagesMagyar is being sworn in at the Hungarian parliament, where preparations took place this weekThe incoming government is at pains to show that it is morally stronger than Fidesz. One prominent businessman, György Wáberer, who switched from Fidesz to Tisza a week before the election, told a journalist he had donated £242,000 (€280,000, $331,000) to Tisza. Magyar promptly returned the money to him. When Magyar's brother-in-law, Márton Melléthei-Barna, was named justice minister, the new government was bitterly criticised on social media. On Thursday evening, Melléthei-Barna announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy for the post, "to ensure that not even the slightest shadow is cast on the transition".Incoming Tisza ministers say there will be no revenge against the outgoing government, but those guilty of financial crimes will be held accountable. A new "office to recover stolen assets" will be set up."I don't think that we should talk about a guillotine," said Tarr, in response to calls for those responsible for siphoning off the national wealth to go on trial."We are talking about investigations and actions which are totally in line with the rule of law. Interestingly enough, the current chief prosecutor, and the police, have started certain investigations which they did not start before the election. They are questioning people."Ferenc ISZA/AFP via Getty ImagesViktor Orbán has decided not to take up his seat in parliament and avoided the cameras when he went to visit the presidentThe small number of prosecutions of prominent figures in Hungary in the past "is turning into a steady flow", a source close to the prosecutor's office told the BBC, "not because we didn't want to prosecute before, but because the police and the tax office were reluctant to gather evidence"."What has changed is that people are now coming forward. So a lot more evidence is suddenly available," the source added.One target of police investigations is the media empire of Gyula Balásy, which won millions in government contracts over the past decade, and ran Fidesz campaigns hostile to migrants, as well as "enemies", who ranged from billionaire businessman and philanthropist George Soros, to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and Magyar himself.In a tearful interview last week, Balásy said he wanted to hand over his compani
Discussion (0)