(Politico)- Viktor Orbán appeared shaken on Thursday in his first public comments since his historic April 12 election defeat, with the outgoing PM admitting “a political era has ended” in Hungary — but signaling he won’t step aside as leader of his Fidesz party as it moves into opposition.
In an interview with pro-government outlet Patrióta, Orbán acknowledged the scale of his party’s loss in unusually blunt terms. “This is a clear defeat,” he said. “The degree of defeat is great.”
On Sunday Péter Magyar’s Tisza opposition party swept to a decisive victory, taking 138 seats in Hungary’s 199-seat parliament. Its two-thirds constitutional majority relegated Fidesz to just 55 seats.
Orbán, who has led Hungary for 16 years straight, took a somber tone throughout the interview, describing the aftermath of the election in personal terms. “I felt pain and emptiness,” he said, adding that he has been throwing himself into his work as “occupational therapy” to cope with the shock. “Even I thought we were going to win,” he admitted.
Magyar has already begun signaling a break with Orbán’s nationalist-populist rule, pledging to relocate the prime minister’s office from Budapest’s Carmelite Palace. Orbán will also skip next week’s informal European Council meeting in Cyprus, according to an EU official who spoke to POLITICO, emphasizing how quickly his long tenure is drawing to a close.
Orbán didn’t duck responsibility for the defeat in his interview. “It’s me. I am the president of the party,” he said, adding that he took the outcome “100 percent on myself.” He acknowledged Fidesz had failed to connect with the electorate: “I have to admit that the opponent’s message was stronger,” he said, referring to Magyar’s promise of change centered on rooting out corruption and dismantling Orbán’s political machine.
But the defeated prime minister said he wasn’t going anywhere. His defeat requires a “complete renewal” of Fidesz and the broader Hungarian right, he declared, including a full overhaul of the party’s leadership and representation in parliament. A party assembly is set for April 28.
“If my community tells me to sit in the back row, I will … If they tell me to take the team onto the field, I will,” Orbán said.
