The Buda Castle district in Budapest once again saw a major demonstration, this time called by the largest opposition party in Hungary, right-wing conservative Fidesz.
On the evening of Thursday, July 9th thousands gathered in front of and around the Sándor Palace, the official residence of the presidents of the Republic, in solidarity with President Tamás Sulyok, who is about to be removed by the incumbent government via what many denounce as an unlawful amendment to Hungary’s Basic Law. The protest, publicized with the hashtag #StopTyranny (#StopÖnkény) was also organised to call out other tampering with the country’s constitution, including amendments that limit the term of prime ministers to 12 years, the years elected parliamentarians can serve also to 12 years, and which introduce an age limit of 70 for constitutional justices—except the ones who are to turn 70 after the amendment is passed.
The crowd that gathered in front of a stage outside the Sándor Palace brandished Hungarian flags and banners with images and texts that mostly mocked the Tisza prime minister, Péter Magyar, with several recalling that he had been a servile adorer of Viktor Orbán for 14 years until his political U-turn due to personal grudges.
Speakers included Fidesz MP Gábor Szűcs, a young and up-and-coming lawyer and former influencer who also served as the rally’s MC; influencer and right-wing activist Elizabeth Tóth, a young mother whose main message was the lack of transparency about Magyar’s agreements with Brussels regarding Hungary’s migration policy. Tóth said she has proof that the Magyar government intends to bring migrants to Hungary and said she would make the evidence public in the near future. She was followed by Bertalan Havasi, the spokesperson of the former PM, Fidesz president Viktor Orbán. Havasi called on conservative Hungarians to unite, stand up for themselves, pledged that Fidesz will not let them down, and called on President Tamás Sulyok “not to let Hungarians down” and not go down without a fight.
In his remarks, Catholic parish priest Zoltán Osztie, a well-known figure on Hungary’s right-wing conservative scene, denounced the climate of fear being created by the Tisza party and the government, and the instigation of hatred and violence against all dissenters.
The last speaker was former president of the Republic and veteran Fidesz politician János Áder, who, a lawyer by profession, dissected the Tisza-proposed constitutional amendments, holding them up as violations of the principle of constitutionality and legality.
Besides booing whenever Magyar was mentioned, repeated chants that were heard from the crowd in response to the various speeches included “Traitor of the homeland,” “Dictator,” “We will not allow it” and “Democracy!”, and the usual-on-the-right “Ria, Ria, Hungária!,” co-opted from sports competitions, as well as “Viktor, Viktor” whenever the former prime minister was mentioned.
One hilarious moment came when it was announced from the stage that Péter Magyar took to social media to comment on the protest, and said—dismissively—“there are 150 people there.” The number was more likely in the thousands, as the writer of this article who was there, can confidently assert.
The event concluded with the singing of the national anthem, and the crowd peacefully dispersed.
Later in the evening, Viktor Orbán thanked his followers for attending and in a somewhat enigmatic phrasing, accompanied by a ‘wink’ emoji, said “See you soon!”
