Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar is expected to soon begin the second phase of his promise to revive democracy in the country, as the last remnants of Viktor Orbán's 16-year rule fade away, Bloomberg reports, writes UNN.
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The Prime Minister, according to the publication, appears intent on fulfilling his promise to remove Tamás Sulyok, the president appointed by Orbán, and the chief judges he selected, who provided cover for his authoritarian regime.
A parliamentary vote on Monday, boycotted by Orbán's party, clears the stage of people who could delay legislation to restore Hungary's access to 16.4 billion euros ($18.7 billion) in European Union funding.
Next, Magyar wants to create an asset recovery body with the authority to seize control of companies suspected of collaborating in the embezzlement of state funds under the previous government.
"The constitutional amendment lays the groundwork for this body," Magyar told journalists after the vote. "The leadership of the authority can be appointed through a transparent process in September, and then it can begin its work."
All of this is part of a plan to reassure the EU that Hungary can safely return billions that were frozen due to fears that Orbán and his cronies were siphoning off a large portion of the funds.
Orbán, who always called himself a "street fighter," is far from the battlefield. He is publishing obituaries in support of Hungarian democracy from North America, where he is watching the last three games of the FIFA World Cup, the publication writes.
The rapid change of fortune after Magyar's landslide victory on April 12 makes even the most cautious observers question whether Orbán, a central figure in Hungarian politics since the fall of communism in 1989, has a future, the publication notes.
"If you say democracy in the country is over, you cannot go to the FIFA World Cup the same day," political commentator Gábor Török wrote on Facebook. "That just undermines the message."
Monday's vote on constitutional amendments capped a frantic period of legislative activity since the government was formed in May. It resulted in the removal of the president, the introduction of a three-term limit for lawmakers, and the dismissal of Orbán's allies in the high courts.
Orbán's Fidesz party condemned the steps to remove them as a violation of democratic norms. But Magyar said voters gave him a mandate to fulfill his promise to dismiss the appointees. He said they turned a blind eye to the looting and corruption committed by Orbán's allies.
Online and in English-language podcasts for foreign consumption, Fidesz officials continue to insist that Magyar's reforms are an authoritarian power grab.
"Hungarian democracy 1990-2026," Orbán wrote on Facebook before the vote. Lawmakers from his party boycotted the session, standing outside the chamber, most of them dressed in mourning black.
But Orbán also appeared to acknowledge that there will be a new, but as he indicated, "illegal" president. "An illegally appointed new president cannot be legitimate, nor can his decisions," he wrote later.
"They don't really think the rule of law is over," Magyar retorted at a press conference. "If they did, they would call for real action from their supporters and probably wouldn't be watching football."
Interest in parliament has surged since Magyar took office, partly because the neo-Gothic building on the banks of the Danube has once again become a place where laws are passed after years during which Orbán largely ruled by decree. In the last years of his tenure, parliamentary sessions averaged about 5,000 online views. Since the elections, that number has risen to 250,000.
And Orbán's party appears to be in chaos. Faction leader Gergely Gulyás resigned on the morning of the vote, saying that since he can no longer be re-elected after the amendment, someone else should hold the position. The decision caught his party colleagues off guard.
Orbán has promised to lead the party renewal process from outside parliament. Details may emerge later in the summer at the festival in Transylvania, neighboring Romania, which he attends annually.
Others question whether he still has the authority to manage this process.
"Today, it was rather the myth of Viktor Orbán that ended, not Hungarian democracy," said political analyst Török.
Hungarian Parliament bans Orbán from returning to the post of Prime Minister16.06.26, 07:15