The mayor without a party, Peter Marki G., will challenge Prime Minister Orban in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Hungary. Markie Zay won in two rounds the primaries of the joint opposition parties, which united in one anti-Urban front. In the second round, he defeated Social Democrat and MEP Clara Dobrev with 56 percent of the vote.
Markie Z, 49, thanked his fans tonight. He promised to fight for a “new Hungary,” where “left and right; Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals” are embraced with love. “Prime Minister Orban has reason to be afraid,” the opposition leader said.
Opposition parties from the left to the far right united last year to form a single anti-Orban front, as individual parties had no chance of winning due to Hungary’s graduated district system. In opinion polls, Orbán’s united opposition list and right-wing populist Fidesz party have been volatile for months.
Every Hungarian voter was allowed to vote for the leader of the list last week. More than 660,000 votes were cast. This also includes voters of Fides, who can help determine who will be the contender for the leader of their party. In addition to the leader of one party, a joint opposition candidate is also elected for each constituency.
Political newcomer
Markie Z. can safely be called a surprise winner in the opposition elections. With the lowest advertising budget of all the candidates, he finished third out of five candidates in the first round, behind Dobrev and the liberal mayor of Budapest, Girgili Karacsonni. He seemed to have the best cards to lead the party at first, but Caracsoni dropped out of the race after the first lap and voiced his support for Marche Zai.
The nonpartisan Markie G. is known for being a moderate and conservative. He once described himself as a “frustrated voter on Fides”. The father of seven is a newcomer to politics: after working as an economist and marketer, in 2018 he ran for the mayor of his hometown: the stronghold of Fidesz in Hódmezovásárhely in southern Hungary.
He managed to overcome the Fides filter. How do? Three different opposition parties rallied behind him.
