Hungary: Magyar government marks one hundred days in office
The Hungarian government led by Prime Minister Péter Magyar has been in office for one hundred, turbulent, days. Magyar and his Tisza Party, which holds a two-thirds majority in parliament, came to power in May with the promise to restore the rule of law and democracy in Hungary and ruthlessly expose the corrupt dealings of the previous government led by Viktor Orbán.
Rapid dismantlement of autocracy
The first hundred days have shown that Magyar is vigorously pushing ahead with the country's transformation, says The Guardian:
“Péter Magyar, has embarked upon the country's most far-reaching and dramatic programme of transformation since the fall of communism in 1989. Mr Magyar's predecessor, Viktor Orbán, established a soft autocracy which thrived on corruption and, over 16 years, exerted its grip on most areas of Hungarian life, from religion to culture and the media. It is being dismantled at extraordinary pace. ... It will take time for Hungary to feel like a normal pluralist European democracy again.”
Real test yet to come
Magyar, the Salzburger Nachrichten notes,
“has lost hardly any support since the election. And rightly so, for he has so far lived up to many expectations. He communicates more openly and comes across as more approachable than his predecessor Viktor Orbán. Above all, he got to work on his promised restructuring of the state – the dismantling of the Fidesz state – straight away. ... In this process Magyar, however, sometimes resorts to methods reminiscent of the Orbán system. ... It remains to be seen whether these dubious methods will serve the higher goal of re-democratising the country. The reform of the electoral system could be a litmus test. This system is also flawed from a democratic perspective, as it favours the strongest party and tends to keep it in power. So now it's Tisza's turn. For the sake of democracy, Magyar must limit his own power.”
Politics over rule of law
When it comes to erasing Orbán's legacy it seems that the end justifies the means in many cases, argues Sme:
“Even setting aside the unprecedented case of the president, how can such a radical restriction on the right to stand for election such as limiting the holding of a parliamentary seat to three term of office, i.e. twelve years, not fall within the remit of the Constitutional Court? Nothing like this exists in any democracy. Nor will you find anywhere that limits the prime minister's term of office to eight years – or two terms. What stands out like a sore thumb in this constitutional experiment is the attempt to prevent Orbán's return to power – but that is pure politics, not the rule of law.”
No sign of consensus democracy
Former liberal politician Gábor Fodor sees mixed results on Facebook:
“Positive points include for example improved relations with the EU, Nato and the V4 countries, as well as the establishment of separate ministries for environmental protection, education and health. On the other hand, the revenge campaign against Fidesz, the exacerbation of social conflicts and the whipping up of emotions, the widespread use of an offensive and humiliating tone, and the disregard for the rule of law are all misguided decisions. ... The new government's arrival on the scene has not led to a return to the consensus democracy established at the time of the fall of communism.”
Following in Orbán’s footsteps
Things haven't changed much in Hungarian politics, Attila Tibor Nagy, a political scientist, comments in Index:
“The leader-centric principle has persisted, it's just that the leader is now called Péter Magyar instead of Viktor Orbán. We are still a long way off from a style of government that curbs the tendency towards autocratic rule, genuinely engages in compromise, significantly involves society and substantially curtails executive power. ... Domestically, the hundred days that have now come to an end were dominated more by the consolidation of the new political leader's power and the quest to satisfy his thirst for recognition.”
From power factory to show factory
Péter Magyar's main focus is his media presence, political scientist Gábor Török writes in his blog:
“One of the Orbán government's key strategies boiled down to what I have termed the 'power factory' and 'power production'. Its primary aim was to exercise, preserve and reproduce political power. Judging by its practices, the Magyar government, by contrast, seems much more like a media or 'show' factory where everything revolves around staging. ... While the former focused on power and decision-making, the latter focuses far more on popularity, public staging and media presence.”
The budget will tell the real story
The contents of the draft budget due to be presented shortly will reveal the Magyar government's true intentions, says Portfolio:
“It will not only show what the government led by Péter Magyar intends to spend money on, and how much. It will also shed light on how the cabinet envisages the role of the state: in which areas it intends to take on more responsibility, from which areas it plans to withdraw, how it intends to strike a new balance in the budget, what the cost will be, and who will bear it. The autumn months will therefore be the time when it truly becomes clear whether the Tisza government is overhauling the state or merely attempting to run the same state more efficiently.”