How did the Magyari manage to tear down the foundations that Orban had been building for years?

Magyar’s victory in the Hungarian parliamentary elections has triggered the collapse of the political, legal, and economic system that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had spent over 16 years building to maintain his ruling party, Fidesz, in power. His decisive win has granted him a two-thirds majority in parliament, empowering him to amend the constitution and enact key laws governing state institutions. This newfound authority allows Magyar to reshape legislation with minimal resistance, marking a pivotal shift in Hungary's governance structure. The fall began shortly after the election results were announced. Within months, critical pillars of Orbán’s regime started to crumble. President Tamas Sulyok, along with other high-ranking officials, resigned, many under pressure from the new government. Magyar publicly demanded their immediate departure, stating, “They should resign themselves. We won’t replace them.” The media landscape, once a powerful tool for Orbán’s narrative, has also weakened, with major outlets losing influence and control shifting toward more independent platforms. Orbán’s tenure since 2010 saw the establishment of what he called the National Cooperation System (NER), a framework he framed as a social contract. Critics, however, viewed it as a centralized political and economic system designed to consolidate Orbán’s version of “illiberal democracy.” Political analyst Szabolcs Dull compared this system to a game where one player could change the rules at will. Orbán relied heavily on his parliamentary majority to pass laws swiftly, but starting in 2020, his rule became increasingly dependent on emergency decrees, first due to the coronavirus pandemic, then under the guise of war in Ukraine. Democratic oversight mechanisms were systematically weakened through appointments of loyal supporters to key institutional positions. State-controlled media, including the public broadcaster MTVA and around 500 affiliated media houses under the KESMA media holding, played a crucial role in promoting the government’s agenda. Dull noted that the promise of dissolving the NER and removing its representatives became Magyar’s most popular pre-election pledge. “This is what voters now expect from him,” he remarked. Among the first major departures from Orbán’s inner circle was President Tamas Sulyok, who stepped down mid-July following constitutional amendments that ended his mandate. These changes also limited the terms of MPs to a maximum of 12 years and introduced a retirement age of 70 for constitutional court judges. As a result, long-time ally Peter Polt, the president of the Constitutional Court, also resigned. Magyar’s administration has replaced several key figures, including the heads of four intelligence agencies, the head of the counterterrorism unit TEK János Hajdu, former press secretary Bertalan Havas, and the director of the national audit office. The office of the National Sovereignty Protection Agency, which had been criticized by the European Commission for its control over media and non-governmental organizations, has also been abolished. In June, Chief Prosecutor Gábor Balint Nagy resigned, citing concerns that the prosecutor’s office had become a political instrument rather than an impartial institution. In July, the Hungarian Parliament established an anti-corruption agency tasked with investigating alleged corruption cases from Orbán’s era. Hungary has long struggled with corruption issues, with close associates of Orbán among the largest recipients of state contracts. Notable figures include Lorinc Meszaros, a billionaire friend from Orbán’s childhood, Istvan Tiborcz, his son-in-law, and Gyozo Orban, his father. At the center of attention is the so-called Matolcsy affair, linked to the suspected disappearance of approximately 1.38 billion euros from the Hungarian Central Bank. Meanwhile, Hungary is poised to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, a move that would enable broader investigations into financial misconduct.