The 49-year-old won 57 percent of the votes in the second round of the primaries of an alliance of six opposition parties, as the responsible election commission announced on Sunday. The left-wing European politician Klara Dobrev came up with 43 percent of the vote.
For a new, cleaner and honest Hungary
Marki-Zay appeared in front of his supporters after his election victory in the capital Budapest. “We want a new, cleaner, honest Hungary,” he said in front of the cheering crowd. It is not just about replacing Orban and his Fidesz party. Rather, “the most corrupt system in Hungary’s thousand-year history” should be brought down, added the opposition candidate with a view to the polls in April.
Klara Dobrev promises support for Peter Marki-Zay
Dobrev admitted their defeat. “From now on I will support Peter Marki-Zay”, she assured her and called on everyone in the opposition to do the same.
The primary election was founded by six parties last year in order to end Orban’s term in office despite the favorable electoral system in Hungary for the Fidesz party. The opposition alliance also sends a common candidate into the race for each of the constituencies. In polls, the opposition alliance is currently neck and neck with the Fidesz party.
The avowed Catholic Marki-Zay takes conservative positions
The father of seven and avowed Catholic Marki-Zay takes conservative positions. For the Fidesz party, he is the “most unpleasant” challenger Orbans, said the expert Robert Laszlo of the AFP news agency. Marki-Zay could draw undecided voters on his side without scaring off left-wing liberal voter groups. Fidesz is “now forced to change its campaign strategy for next year’s election”.
Marki-Zay had entered the primary elections as an outsider. In the first round of voting, in which more than 600,000 people took part last month, he was only third. But he was able to convince the liberal Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony to withdraw his candidacy and instead support Marki-Zay against Dobrev.
Marki-Zay became known nationwide in 2018 when he won the mayoral election in the small town of Hodmezovasarhely, a Fidesz stronghold in southern Hungary. Even then, he had relied on an alliance with other opposition parties. The 49-year-old, who lived in the USA and Canada for five years, can also refer to his experience as an economist and engineer. With his anti-elitist rhetoric and his slogans against corruption, Marki-Zay also appeals to younger voters.
Dobrev, who has been Vice President of the EU Parliament since 2019, won the first round of the primary with 35 percent of the vote. She had advertised that she had more political experience than Marki-Zay. However, her marriage to the former Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, who offers Orban a lot of open ground for attack, spoke against Dobrev. (AFP)