Viktor Orbán (born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian politician. He was the Prime Minister of Hungary between 1998 and 2002, and is currently the leader of main opposition party Fidesz.
Biography
He was born on 31 May 1963 in
SzékesfehérvárSzékesfehérvár is a city in central Hungary, located around southwest of Budapest. It is inhabited by 106,346 people , with 138,995 in the direct vicinity, and is the centre of Fejér county and the regional centre of Central Transdanubia. In the Middle Ages the city was a royal residence and...
and spent his childhood in two nearby villages,
AlcsútdobozAlcsútdoboz is a village in Fejér county, Hungary.-External links:*...
and
Felcsút- External links :*...
. In 1977 his family moved to Székesfehérvár.
He studied
English languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
at secondary school, which he graduated from in 1981. In 1981 and 1982 he completed his military service, then he studied law at Eötvös Loránd University in
BudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it serves as the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation center and is considered an important hub in Central Europe. In 2009, Budapest had 1,712,210 inhabitants, down from a mid-1980s...
. He graduated in 1987. For the next two years he lived in
SzolnokSzolnok is the capital of the county of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok in central Hungary.-History:The area has been inhabited since ancient times. Before the Conquest of Hungary, it was inhabited by Celts, Slavs and Avars...
, but commuted to Budapest where he had a job as a sociologist at the Management Training Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
In 1989 Mr Orbán received a
scholarshipA scholarship is an award of access to an institution, or a financial aid award for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
from the
Soros FoundationA Soros Foundation is one of a network of national foundations, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe, which fund volunteer socio-political activity, created by George Soros, international financier and self-proclaimed philanthropist, and coordinated since early 1994 by a management team called the...
and spent a half year in
OxfordOxford is a city, and the county town of Oxfordshire, in South East England. The city has a population of just under 165,000, with 151,000 living within the district boundary. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre...
, where he studied at
Pembroke CollegePembroke College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located in Pembroke Square. As of 2007, Pembroke had an estimated financial endowment of £45.5 million.-History:...
.
Viktor Orbán is married to jurist Anikó Lévai. Mr. Orbán is a Protestant, while maintaining good relations with the leaders of all the major churches in Hungary. Orbán and his wife have five children. He is very fond of sports, especially of
footballAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball...
; he is a signed player of the
Felcsút- External links :*...
football team, and as a result he also appears in
Football Manager 2006Football Manager 2006 is a game in the Football Manager series of football management simulation games. It is available for PC, Mac platforms, and was released in the UK on October 21, 2005...
.
Political career
Mr. Orbán was a founding member of the Fidesz party (an acronym of
FIatal DEmokraták SZövetsége which means "Alliance of Young Democrats" in Hungarian), which was formed on 30 March 1988. On 16 June 1989, Mr. Orbán gave a speech in
Heroes' SquareHősök tere is one of the major squares of Budapest, Hungary, rich with historic and political connotations...
, Budapest, on the occasion of the reburial of
Imre NagyImre Nagy was a Hungarian politician, appointed Prime Minister of Hungary on two occasions. Nagy's second term ended when his non-Soviet-backed government was brought down by Soviet invasion in the failed Hungarian Revolution of 1956, resulting in Nagy's execution on charges of treason two years...
and other national
martyrA martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce a belief, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s of the
1956 Hungarian RevolutionThe Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the Stalinist government of the People's Republic of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956....
. In his speech he demanded free elections and the withdrawal of
SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
troops. The speech brought him wide national and political acclaim. This speech is widely remembered as a turning point in Hungarian history. In the summer of 1989 he took part in the Opposition Roundtable negotiations.
In 1990 he became a member of the Hungarian parliament and leader of Fidesz, which was transformed from a liberal (Fidesz was a member of
Liberal InternationalLiberal International is a political international for liberal parties. Its headquarters are located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the strengthening of...
) into a right-wing conservative party under his direction, after the collapse of the national right in 1994. In 1995 the party changed its name to Fidesz-MPP (Federation of Young Democrats & Hungarian Civic Party).
Orbán also holds the position of Vice President of the
European People's PartyThe European People's Party is a centre-right European political party. Founded in 1976, the EPP has 72 member-parties from 39 countries, 13 EU and 6 non-EU heads of government, 10 European Commissioners , and the largest group in the European Parliament with 265 members.-History:EPP traces its...
(EPP) since October 2002.
Prime Minister of Hungary
Fidesz-MPP won the
1998 parliamentary electionsThe results of the Hungarian parliamentary election of 1998 are as follows:The election was a significant defeat for the governing Socialist Party and their coalition allies , the Alliance of Free Democrats and a narrow surprise victory for Viktor Orbán's right-wing Fidesz.The successful...
with 42% of the national vote, in alliance with the remnants of the
Hungarian Democratic ForumThe Hungarian Democratic Forum , or MDF, is a Centre-right, Liberal Conservative, and Christian Democratic, political party in Hungary, led by Ibolya Dávid.Its emblematic figure was József Antall, Prime Minister between 1990 and 1993....
(MDF) (the backbone of Hungary's first democratically elected government from 1990-94), promising improvements in the welfare system as an antidote to the bitter austerity program of the outgoing coalition government of the
Hungarian Socialist PartyThe Hungarian Socialist Party describes itself as a Social Democratic party in Hungary. It is the partial successor of the communist Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party , which ruled Hungary between 1956 and 1989. The decision to declare the party a successor of the MSZMP was controversial, and...
(MSZP) and
Alliance of Free DemocratsThe Alliance of Free Democrats – Hungarian Liberal Party is a liberal party in Hungary, led since July 2009 by Attila Retkes . The SZDSZ is a member of the ELDR and of Liberal International...
(SZDSZ). Thus, Viktor Orbán became the second youngest Prime Minister of Hungary at 35 (after
András HegedűsAndrás Hegedüs was a Hungarian Communist politician who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1955 to 1956. Hegedűs fled to the Soviet Union on 28 October, the fifth day of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956...
), serving between 1998 and 2002.
Orbán's economic policy was aimed at cutting taxes and social insurance contributions over four years while reducing inflation and unemployment. Among its first measures the new government abolished university tuition fees and reintroduced universal maternity benefits. The government announced its intention to continue the Socialist-Liberal stabilization program and pledged to narrow the budget deficit, which had grown to 4.5% of the GDP. The previous Cabinet had almost completed the privatization of government-run industries and had launched a comprehensive pension reform. The Socialists had avoided two major socioeconomic issues, however--reform of health care and the agricultural system--and these remained to be tackled by Orbán's government.
The new government immediately launched a radical reform of state administration, reorganizing ministries and creating a super-ministry for the economy. In addition, the boards of the social security funds and centralized social security payments were dismissed. Following the German model, Orbán strengthened the prime minister's office and named a new minister to oversee the work of his Cabinet.
Hungary gained substantial international exposure in May 1999 when, along with
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and the
Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a country in Central Europe that is sometimes considered to be Eastern European. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west and northwest, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. The capital and largest city is Prague...
, it joined
NATOThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization ); ), also called "the Atlantic Alliance", is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4, 1949...
. Hungary was immediately called upon to make far-reaching decisions as an alliance member: the country opted to act as a passive participant in NATO's military intervention in
YugoslaviaYugoslavia is a term that describes three political entities that existed successively on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century.The first country to be known by this...
, its neighbour to the south, over the Kosovo crisis. This passive participation is widely seen as a consequence of the extremely poor state of the
Hungarian armed forcesThe "Hungarian Home Defence Force" currently has two branches, the "Hungarian Ground Force" and the "Hungarian Air Force."The term "Home Defence Force" was originally used to refer to the armed forces established by Lajos Kossuth and the National Defence Committee of the Revolutionary Hungarian...
at the time (a throwback to the Communist era).
Despite heavy criticism from opposition parties, in February the government decided that plenary sessions of the unicameral National Assembly would be held only every third week. As a result, according to opposition arguments, parliament's legislative efficiency and ability to supervise the government were reduced. In late March the government's move to replace the National Assembly rule calling for a two-thirds majority vote with a simple majority was ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court.
At the same time, the Orbán cabinet continued to strengthen the prime-minister-led political system (based on the German model of government, including the central role of the Chancellor and the institution of the constructive vote of no confidence) which had been adopted in Hungary as a result of the secret pact concluded between the Hungarian Democratic Forum (the governing party) and the Alliance of Free Democrats (the leading party of the opposition) after the first free elections in the spring of 1990.
The year saw only minor changes in top government officials. Two of Orbán's state secretaries in the prime minister's office had to resign in May because of their implication in a bribery scandal involving the U.S. military manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp. In advance of bids on a major jet-fighter contract, the two secretaries, along with 32 other deputies of Mr. Orban's party, had sent a letter to two U.S. senators to lobby for the appointment of a Budapest-based Lockheed manager to be the U.S. ambassador to Hungary. On August 31 the head of the Tax Office also resigned, succumbing to protracted attacks by the opposition on his earlier, allegedly suspicious, business dealings. The tug-of-war continued between the Budapest municipality and the central government over the latter's decision in late 1998 to cancel two major urban modernization projects: a new national theatre and a fourth metro line.
Economic successes included a drop in inflation from 15% in 1998 to 10.0% in 1999, 9.8% in 2000 and 7.8% in 2001. GDP growth rates were fairly steady: 4.4% in 1999, 5.2% in 2000, and 3.8% in 2001. The fiscal deficit fell from 3.9% in 1999, to 3.5% in 2000 and 3.4% in 2001 and the ratio of the national debt was reduced to 54 percent of the GDP. Under the Orban cabinet there were realistic hopes that Hungary would be able to join the Eurozone by
2009. As a result of the irresponsible fiscal policies of the governments in power since 2002, the country has come close to the brink of fiscal collapse, the ratio of the national debt is in the range of 80 percent of the GDP, and today nobody dares to make any forecasts as to the time when Hungary would be in a position to meet the criteria for joining the Eurozone.
Relations between the Fidesz-led coalition government and the opposition worsened in the National Assembly, where the two seemed to have abandoned all attempts at consensus-seeking politics. Also, a top-level political scandal involving the opposition erupted. As a follow-up episode to the oil scandal in 1996, in which attempts were made to link high government officials with the Hungarian oil mafia, new testimony by a criminal-turned-crown-witness led the National Assembly's oil scandal investigating committee to accuse a number of former and current top-level politicians of involvement.
Orbán came under criticism for pushing through an unprecedented two-year budget and for failing to curb inflation, which only dropped a half point, from 10% in 1999 to 9.5% in 2000, despite the tight fiscal policy of the Central Bank. Investments continued to grow.
At the same time, negotiations for entry into the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
slowed in the fall of 1999 after the EU included six more countries (in addition to the original six) in the accession discussions. Mr Orbán repeatedly criticized the EU for its delay.
Numerous political scandals during 2001 led to a de facto, if not actual, breakup of the coalition that held power in Budapest. A bribery scandal in February triggered a wave of allegations against the Independent Smallholders' Party (FKGP), the junior coalition partner, although it did not affect the Federation of Young Democrats (Fidesz)–Hungarian Civic Party, the senior governing party. The affair resulted in the ousting of József Torgyán from both the FKGP presidency and the top post in the Ministry of Agriculture.
The level of public support for political parties generally stagnated, even with general elections anticipated in 2002. Fidesz and the former governing Hungarian Socialist Party ran neck and neck in opinion polls for most of the year, both attracting about 26% of the electorate. According to a September poll by the Gallup organization, however, support for a joint Fidesz–Hungarian Democratic Forum party list would enjoy the approval of 33% of the voters, with the Socialists drawing 28% and other opposition parties 3%. Meanwhile, public support for the FKGP plunged from 14% in 1998 to 1% in 2001. As many as 40% of the voters remained undecided, however. Although the Socialists had picked their candidate for prime minister — former finance minister
Péter MedgyessyPéter Medgyessy is a Hungarian politician and was the Prime Minister of Hungary from May 27, 2002 until September 29, 2004...
— the opposition largely remained at sixes and sevens, unable to attract political support. The Socialist Medgyessy seemed most likely to stand alone against the Prime Minister in the May 2002 elections.
Still, much could depend on the radical nationalist
Hungarian Justice and Life PartyThe Hungarian Justice and Life Party is a right wing political party in Hungary led by István Csurka...
(MIÉP), notwithstanding its leader István Csurka's radical rhetoric. MIÉP was in opposition, but it could not be ruled out as a kingmaker after the 2002 elections.
Hungary attracted international media attention during the year for its passage of a law that extended education and health benefits as well as employment rights to the estimated three-million-strong Magyar (ethnic Hungarian) minority in neighbouring countries (
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
,
SlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe with a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia borders the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. The largest city is its capital, Bratislava...
,
Serbia and MontenegroThe State Union of Serbia and Montenegro , was a union of Serbia and Montenegro, which existed between 2003 and 2006. The two republics, both of which are former republics of the SFR Yugoslavia, initially formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992...
,
CroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a country in southeast Europe, at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is Zagreb...
,
SloveniaSlovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central Europe bordering Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north...
and
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
), said to heal the negative effects of the evil 1920
Trianon TreatyThe Treaty of Trianon was the peace treaty concluded in 1920 at the end of World War I by the Allies of World War I, on one side, and Hungary, seen as a successor of Austria-Hungary, on the other. The treaty established the borders of Hungary and regulated its international situation...
. Governments in adjacent states, particularly Romania, claimed to be insulted by the so-called status law, which they saw as an interference in their domestic affairs. The proponents of the status law countered, that several countries criticizing the law have themselves similar constructs to provide benefits for their own minorities. Romania acquiesced after amendments following a December 2001 agreement between Orbán and Romanian prime minister
Adrian NăstaseAdrian Năstase is a Romanian politician who was the Prime Minister of Romania from December 2000 to December 2004.He competed as the Social Democratic Party candidate in the 2004 presidential election, but was defeated by centre-right Justice and Truth Alliance candidate Traian Băsescu.He was...
; Slovakia accepted the law after further concessions made by the new government after the 2002 elections.
A later report in March by the Brussels-based
International Federation of JournalistsInternational Federation of Journalists, IFJ, is a global union federation of journalists' trade unions—the largest in the world. The organization aims to protect and strengthen the rights and freedoms of journalists...
criticized the Hungarian government for improper political influence in the media as the country's public service broadcaster teetered close to bankruptcy.
The elections of 2002 were the most heated Hungary had experienced in more than a decade, and an unprecedented cultural-political division formed in the country. In the event, Viktor Orbán's group lost the April parliamentary elections to the opposition Hungarian Socialist Party, which set up a coalition with its longtime ally, the liberal Alliance of Free Democrats. Turnout was a record-high 73.5%.
Beyond these parties, only deputies of the
Hungarian Democratic ForumThe Hungarian Democratic Forum , or MDF, is a Centre-right, Liberal Conservative, and Christian Democratic, political party in Hungary, led by Ibolya Dávid.Its emblematic figure was József Antall, Prime Minister between 1990 and 1993....
made it into the National Assembly. The populist Independent Smallholders' Party and the right
Hungarian Justice and Life PartyThe Hungarian Justice and Life Party is a right wing political party in Hungary led by István Csurka...
(MIÉP) lost all their seats. The number of political parties in the new assembly was therefore reduced from six to four.
MIÉP challenged the government's legitimacy, demanded a recount, complained of election fraud, and generally kept the country in election mode until the October municipal elections. The socialist-controlled Central Elections Committee ruled that a recount was unnecessary, a position supported by observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, whose only substantive criticism of the election conduct was that the state television carried a consistent bias in favour of Fidesz.
Life since government
Orbán was awarded the Freedom Award of the American Enterprise Institute and the New Atlantic Initiative (2001), the Polak Award (2001), the Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (2001), the "Förderpreis Soziale Marktwirtschaft" (Price for the Social Market Economy, 2002) and the Mérite Européen prize (2004). In April, 2004. he was awarded the Papal Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great.
He was the candidate of Fidesz for
the parliamentary election in 2006The schedule of the 2006 Hungarian parliamentary elections, as announced by president László Sólyom was as follows:* first round on April 9, 2006* second round on April 23, 2006...
. Fidesz and its new-old candidate failed again to gain a majority in this election, which initially put Orbán's future political career as the leader of Fidesz in question. However, on fighting with socialist-liberal coalition, his position has been solidified again, and he was elected president of Fidesz yet again for another term in May 2007.
Viktor Orbán in the media
Having moved from the mainstream liberal political views of the early "Orange Fidesz" to mighly populist conservativism over the course of 12 years, Viktor Orbán is sometimes presented as a
turncoatA turncoat is a person who shifts allegiance from one loyalty or ideal to another, betraying or deserting an original cause by switching to the opposing side or party...
, who does not even believe his own Christian-conservative rhetoric. Between 1990-1993, then-liberal politician Viktor Orbán was one of the most prominent opponents of the late Prime Minister
József AntallJózsef Antall was the first democratically-elected prime minister of Hungary , teacher, librarian, historian and political figure. He was the leader of the Hungarian Democratic Forum between 1989 and 1993.-Family:József Antall was born to an ancient Hungarian family from the lower nobility...
, whom current FIDESZ supporters hold in high esteem due to his staunchly Christian
agendaAgenda may refer to:* Agenda , points to be discussed; sometimes refers to the list of topics itself* Political agenda, the set of goals of an ideological group; also used as above, the topics under discussion by a government...
. Viktor Orbán's views became more and more conservative as his family expanded; he has now five children.
Viktor Orbán is usually depicted by foreign media as a mainstream Hungarian politician and mention his anti-communist past, while often labelling him a
populistPopulism is a political discourse that juxtaposes "the people" with "the elites." Populism may comprise an ideology urging social and political system changes and/or a rhetorical style deployed by members of political or social movements...
. They often voice economic concerns over his proposed growth-based economic reform ideas. In January 2007
The EconomistThe Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in an office in the City of Westminster, London. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843. While The Economist calls itself a...
criticised his "cynical populism and mystifyingly authoritarian socialist-style policies".
Domestically he is strongly demonized by the majority of the left-wing and liberal media. Since 2002 the campaign tactics of the governing coalition MSZP and SZDSZ increasingly relied on communicating the message "Anybody but Orbán" to their voters. Similarly, some of Orbán's own messages are heavily critical of the left-wing parties.
The most stormy incidents generating indignation happened in 2001. That April Magyar Hirlap made public a letter written by a reader that stated, "the killing of Orbán would do good to our nation". Also that month on left-wing TV channel RTL Klub, reporter Tamás Frei interviewed a Russian hitman, asking him for how much money would he kill the Hungarian prime minister (then Orban). Right-wingers thought it a provocative question. Later it turned out that the interview person wasn't a real hitman, but an actor paid by Frei. After this scandal, RTL Klub apologised to Orbán, and the Luxembourgian owners of the channel began an inquiry. Frei subsequently lost his job (he now works at rival left-wing channel "TV2"). Political scientists and right-wing publicists call these phenomena "orban(o)phobia".
A further method for the less favourable depiction of Viktor Orbán in left-wing Hungarian media is to hold him up to
ridiculeRidicule is a 1996 French film set in the 18th century at the decadent court of Versailles, where social status can rise and fall based on one's ability to mete out witty insults and avoid ridicule oneself...
. The left-wing Saturday-night roundtable TV jokeshow "Heti Hetes" (which was popular during Fidesz's term of office) spends a significant part of its air time making fun of Viktor Orbán and the his attitude of his followers, which they consider sentimentally patriotic and folksy.
ParodyA parody , in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
and criticism of Orbán were similarly strong and organized over the
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, mostly during his time as prime minister. One of the popular ridicule tactics is to affix humorous nicknames to him, such as: A Zorbán (The Grim Orbán), see more (Zorb a small dwraf); Viktátor (Viktor-dictator); Alcsúti Törpe (Dwarf of Alcsút, the village where Mr. Orbán was born, because he is relatively short in stature), etc.
Currently - as Orbán has much more sympathy with the general public than the left-wing leaders - he is much less parodied such ways. Nowadays
Ferenc GyurcsányFerenc Gyurcsány is a Hungarian politician. He was the Prime Minister of Hungary from 2004 to 2009. He was nominated to take that position on 25 August 2004 by the Hungarian Socialist Party , after Péter Medgyessy resigned due to a conflict with the Socialist Party's coalition partner...
has similar status (especially since 2006's speech of Őszöd).
According to his supporters, the way the major Western organs present the Alliance of Young Democrats (FIDESZ) is often biased and distorted as their correspondents mainly rely on information obtained from leading Hungarian liberal intellectuals who are staunch supporters of the governing coalition of the Socialists and the Free Democrats (the Free Democrats left the coalition in 2008 but continue to support the Socialists, who are governing in minority.) In reality, Standard and Poor's, IMF and other financial institutions are both financially and politically independent from the left wing of Hungary, the way they criticise Mr. Orbán's politics is more probably the result of their own analysis of the situation and their independent simulation of the theoretical results of his party's statedly intended economic actions. The current parliamentary support for the expenditure-cutting and economy stimulus package of the current
Government of ExpertsGyörgy Gordon Bajnai is the current Prime Minister of Hungary. In March 2009, following Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány's announced resignation, Bajnai was nominated by the ruling MSZP party to become Hungary's next prime minister...
intended for reducing the harmful effects of the World Economic Crisis prevents the dissolution of Parliament and holding of early elections, although the supporting parties have lost all political and moral legitimacy by now in the eyes of those FIDESZ-supporters who are considered by some to be enraged for believing the current tax-lowering, social expenditure-increasing proposals of his party, the implementation of which is expected to cause faster rising state-debt by the above-mentioned two financial institutions, which in turn would cause devaluation and increased inflation of the currency according to different intellectuels.
Trivia
He played the bit part of a footballer in the Hungarian juvenile film 'Szegény Dzsoni és Árnika' (1983).
Orbán has played soccer from early childhood; he's currently one of the players and main financiers of Hungarian football club Felcsút FC.
External links