BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary’s newly elected Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced Tuesday that his party will use its parliamentary majority to establish investigative panels examining alleged corruption and power abuses during Viktor Orbán’s previous administration.
Magyar’s center-right Tisza party secured a decisive victory over the autocratic former leader in last month’s elections. The overwhelming win provided Tisza with a two-thirds majority, enabling them to reverse numerous policies that earned Orbán criticism as a far-right authoritarian leader.
A central campaign pledge for Tisza involved holding Orbán, his nationalist-populist Fidesz party, and their business allies responsible for suspected wrongdoing.
Speaking Tuesday, Magyar announced that six parliamentary investigative panels will examine various aspects of Orbán’s time in office, including suspected misuse of public money handled by Hungary’s National Bank — a matter currently under police review involving potentially hundreds of millions of dollars.
“We will put all corruption and abuses of power on full display,” Magyar said. “The Hungarian people have the right to know who benefited from their money, who stole their money, who got rich from the vulnerability of the people.”
Throughout his 16-year tenure as Hungary’s prime minister, Orbán faced accusations from numerous critics of overseeing widespread public fund misuse, including directing profitable government contracts to relatives and business figures connected to his party.
Critics also accused him of wielding government power to weaken democratic institutions, prompting the European Parliament to declare in 2022 that Hungary was no longer a democracy.
Since assuming office earlier this month, Magyar’s party lawmakers have introduced a constitutional amendment restricting prime ministers to eight-year terms — a limitation that would apply to Magyar himself. Orbán, who completed four consecutive terms, would be barred from serving as prime minister again under this proposal.
Magyar stated Tuesday that his administration would also consider applying the eight-year restriction to other elected positions, noting: “No one should imagine that electoral authority is inherited forever. Power exercised without limits leads to loss of control over time in any democratic system.”
Another investigative committee will examine details surrounding a pardon granted to an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case by Hungary’s former president, Katalin Novák, which resulted in her 2024 resignation, Magyar explained.
The new premier has also committed to passing a constitutional amendment dissolving Hungary’s Sovereignty Protection Office, an agency established by Orbán’s administration in 2023 to investigate non-governmental organizations, media companies and political parties under the guise of preventing foreign interference.
Magyar additionally promised his government would eliminate “political privileges” previously granted to officeholders, including salary reductions for the prime minister and cabinet members, state company executives, and legislators.
