Hungary Opposition Elects Anti-Establishment Mayor Marki-Zay to Take on Orban

Peter Marki-Zay, the conservative mayor of Hodmezovasarhely and leader of the joint opposition. Photo: Facebook

A surprising choice given he was largely unknown at the start of the primaries and lacks a main political party machine behind him, Marki-Zay will now lead the joint opposition of six parties in its bid to defeat the Fidesz party of Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the spring 2022 parliamentary election.

Dobrev, the candidate of the leftist-liberal Democratic Coalition, congratulated Marki-Zay on Sunday evening and said she would "support him with her full heart". The head of the former radical-right Jobbik party, Peter Jakab, who was eliminated in the first round of the primaries, also voiced support for Marki-Zay and the united opposition.

To cheering crowds in downtown Budapest, Marki-Zay said that, "now we have to leave our turbulent rows behind us and hold hands," referring to the heated debates during the second round of the primaries, which many had feared would undermine the opposition's fragile unity.

"Our task now is to convince those who are undecided and even bring over disappointed Fidesz voters, in order to defeat Orban at the parliamentary election next April," he added.

Marki-Zay's victory is a huge surprise for most observers, as he had not been among the favourites at the outset of the primaries and was not a politician with nationwide name recognition. Further, he does not have a party background, only a loose movement, with fewer activists and a modest budget, if any.

Yet he struck a chord with the roughly 600,000 opposition party voters with a campaign that heralded him as the "clean" candidate - someone who has not been tainted by national politics of the last 30 years and symbolises real change. He...