My victory is “a revolution of ordinary people, Orban should not be afraid of me, but of all of you,” said Marki-Zai
Independent Conservative Peter Marki-Zai has won the Hungarian opposition’s primary election, which will determine the six-party coalition candidate who will face right-wing populist Viktor Orbán in next spring’s election, AFP reported.
Marki-Zay, mayor of a small town, won the second round against Social Democrat Klara Dobrev, who conceded defeat tonight. After counting about 98 percent of the vote, her opponent led by 13 percent.
My victory is a “revolution of ordinary people,” Marki-Zay said, urging supporters of all opposition parties to support him in the April elections.
“Victor Orban should not be afraid of me, but of all of you,” he told supporters.
With his victory, Marki-Zay received the support of the six leading opposition parties, which cover the political spectrum from left to moderate to right. The parties have vowed to put aside their ideological differences and support a single leader to stand up to the ruling Fidesz party’s candidate.
According to them, such co-operation is the only way to overcome the unbalanced media environment and the electoral system developed by the government, which, according to the opposition, puts it at a disadvantage.
Marki-Zai ran in the primary as an independent candidate without political or financial support from the six major parties. A father of seven, he describes himself as a conservative Christian, but says he will be able to mobilize voters across the political spectrum, including disgruntled FIDES supporters.
He said in an interview with the AP that he would work with members of all parties in the opposition coalition against “Orban’s corrupt dictatorship”.
“We are very pleased and we strongly hope that next year we will show that we can build a coalition that will change the history of Hungary,” said the winner.
A total of 662,016 opposition supporters voted in the first primary elections in the Central European country.
–
