Viktor Orban, who has served as Hungary’s prime minister for 16 consecutive years, conceded defeat after preliminary results of the parliamentary election showed a landslide victory for the Tisza party led by Peter Magyar. Out of 199 seats in Hungary’s parliament, the Tisza party secured 138.
Magyar wrote on social media as results were announced: “Prime Minister Viktor Orbán just called to congratulate us on our victory.”
Orban told his supporters that after a “painful” but “clear” result, he had congratulated the rival party. He said: “The responsibility and possibility of governing was not given to us. We are going to serve the Hungarian nation and our homeland from opposition as well.”
Speaking to tens of thousands of supporters along the Danube River in Budapest, Magyar said those who voted for his party had effectively rewritten history.
He added: “Tonight, truth has triumphed over lies. We won because the people of Hungary did not ask what their country could do for them, but what they could do for their country. You found that answer, and you delivered it.”
