ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
Earlier tonight, Orban took to national television to concede the election to his 45-year-old challenger, Peter Magyar of the Tisza Party.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRIME MINISTER VIKTOR ORBAN: (Non-English language spoken).
SCHMITZ: An historic 77.8% of voters turned out today to reject Orban's populist, far-right agenda for their country. That's the biggest voter turnout since Hungary adopted democracy at the end of the Cold War. And it was an election with implications not just for Viktor Orban, who has chipped away at his country's democratic institutions, but because his leadership has been considered a model for right-wing nationalist populism. Orban maintained close ties to both the Trump administration and the Kremlin.
The opposition promised to put an end to corruption, end to Orban's assault on democracy. His message clearly energized voters, and now it looks like Magyar's party has gotten a super majority, enabling his government to reverse the changes that Orban has made to the constitution.
I'm joined here in our NPR Budapest pop-up studio by NPR's Esme Nicholson, who just returned from a rally for Magyar, and by Abel Bojar of the 21 Research Center, a political polling firm here in Budapest. Abel Bojar, let's start with you. What happened today?
ABEL BOJAR: What happened today was a truly historical moment in Hungary's political history. Record number of people turned out to today's election. The turnout was close to 80%, which historically...
SCHMITZ: Wow.
BOJAR: ...Is a huge number - 10 percentage points higher than in most previous elections. What that means in practice is that Viktor Orban's grip on power in the last 16 years seems to be over, leading the way for Peter Magyar, his opposition challenger, to form a new government with a two-thirds majority, which gives him basically free reins to undertake sweeping constitutional changes. And what we're all hoping at this point is that he will use that to re-democratize the country.
SCHMITZ: This is an historic day for Hungary.
BOJAR: It seems to be so.
SCHMITZ: And, Esme, you were just out with supporters of Tisza, the opposition party, and its candidate, Peter Magyar. You just came by - back by bicycle. What did you see there?
ESME NICHOLSON, BYLINE: Well, I mean, first of all, I've never seen so many Hungarian flags, and, you know, people are not just elated and overjoyed, but they are relieved. I spoke to a teacher in her 50s who said Hungary belongs to Europe not Russia and is relieved that her son has a future. I also spoke to 18-year-old Sara Chongaradi (ph) who had voted for the very first time, and she really couldn't contain her excitement. This is her speaking.
SARA CHONGARADI: I'm really hopeful for the next one, and I really hope that it will be a better country for us, and I hope there will be no corruption. And I hope the media will be also better. And yeah, that's all. I'm just really happy (laughter).
SCHMITZ: Wow, she sounds really happy. Esme, what did they tell you specifically about Peter Magyar? Who is he, and why did he become so popular with voters?
NICHOLSON: Well, among the crowd, the answer I heard most was that he is not Orban, that he is simply something new. He's a center-right politician, as we know, although we don't know that much really about him, of course. But he's not considered a progressive, and yet, there were lots of progressive, liberal voters out there this evening simply relieved that he is change - he represents change. He is not Orban. But others were also quite realistic and quite aware that Magyar has a huge task on his hands.
SCHMITZ: Now, let's go to you, Abel Bojar. For the past 16 years, Viktor Orban's government has changed the country's constitution. It's purged judges. It's consolidated the media. It's managed to take control of some of the country's most prestigious universities, all in an effort to keep Viktor Orban, who has become a global symbol of the far right, in power as long as possible. That didn't happen. Will Orban still control some element of the government or not?
BOJAR: Elements of the government - that's hard to say. But he will definitely - for the time being, for the foreseeable future, he will definitely control some of the state institutions as long as the new government, with their two-thirds majority, is able and willing to dismantle them. How they will do it and what time frame they will do it and what exactly that means, what institutions they will be able to change, that's a big, open question. But that's the agenda. That's one of the centerpieces of Peter Magyar's agenda, and that's what most people who voted for him are waiting for.
SCHMITZ: I'm also curious to hear your opinion about the oligarchy that Orban has created during his 16 years - the last 16 years while he was prime minister. Is that going to retain some sort of control over society?
BOJAR: Well, that's the million-dollar question. In the short run, for sure, in many key economic sectors, such as construction, they have a key role in running the economy.
SCHMITZ: Right.
BOJAR: And overtaking those businesses, with extremely intricate business networks all the way through the supply chains, is not going to happen overnight. So to answer your question, in the short term, they will definitely play a key role in the Hungary economy. Yes.
SCHMITZ: And how much power do you think Magyar will have to actually change things in Hungary?
BOJAR: Well, to answer the question, you have to distinguish between the legal, constitutional power, which now he seems to have a free reign to use it and, as you said before, reverse or undertake and implement new changes in the constitution, and the actual political power. And that's a big, open question because it's one thing to have the legal means to implement these legal changes. Another thing is whether he can do so while preserving the sort of political support and electoral coalition that stands behind him.
SCHMITZ: OK. So we've got about 30 seconds. From each of you, briefly, what should we watch for next? Abel.
BOJAR: What we should first watch for as the first policy measures that they will try to - OK, first of all, transfer of power.
SCHMITZ: Yeah.
BOJAR: It looks like it's going to happen - peaceful transfer of power.
SCHMITZ: It seems like it's going to happen. Yeah.
BOJAR: It seems, at least, from tonight (ph). But the next step should be what are the first policies that they will propose to introduce?
SCHMITZ: Esme.
NICHOLSON: And I think we should be watching capitals across the world from Brussels to Washington to Moscow to see what the reactions there are.
SCHMITZ: That's Abel Bojar and NPR's Esme Nicholson. Thanks to you both. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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