This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.

Sunday, April 12, brought long-awaited political change to Hungary. After 16 years in power, Prime Minister Orbán and his Fidesz party have been roundly defeated at the polls. Tisza, a new party led by Péter Magyar — a former Fidesz government insider who started openly opposing the Orbán regime after a clemency scandal rocked the government in 2024, leading to the president’s and the justice minister’s resignations — has won the election in a landslide.

The success came after more than a decade of Hungary’s slide towards authoritarianism, as Orbán’s government restricted media freedom, undermined the independence of the judiciary, eroded the rule of law, restricted civil liberties, and tilted the electoral playing field in its favour, among others. Right-wing leaders throughout Europe and in U.S. President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement took inspiration from his model.

Tisza won a clear majority in votes, which projections estimated would translate into a constitutional majority in parliament. Even with Magyar leading in the polls ahead of Sunday, few of those opposed to Orbán’s government felt this outcome was assured. Thanks to this super-majority, the party will now be able to implement fundamental reforms and undo parts of the authoritarian system Orbán has built over the past 16 years in power.

Contrary to most punditry, which suspected that the incumbent Fidesz party would resist, perhaps even challenge, a swift transfer of power, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had conceded the race to Péter Magyar even before 50% of the votes were counted.  Most likely, Fidesz realised that the opposing party’s winning margins were too wide across constituencies, thus undermining their ability to credibly challenge them.

Even though the Hungarian context differs fundamentally from the U.S. — and while the election in Hungary is, in the end, predominantly about........

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