President Sulyok Invites Péter Magyar to Form Government

Péter Magyar, the leader of the election-winning Tisza Party, said on Wednesday that President Tamás Sulyok will formally invite him to form the next government. Magyar met the president after Tamás Sulyok invited the leaders of the parties with mandates in the new parliament to attend talks at his office in Sándor Palace, MTI reports.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Péter Magyar said Tamás Sulyok had outlined the new parliament's timeline, confirming he would ask the leader of the largest party to serve as prime minister once elected by MPs. Formal government formation talks will begin this Friday, with party leaders and the directors-general of Sandor Palace and parliament all involved in planning the inaugural session and committee formations.

He said the president had indicated the earliest possible date for parliament's inaugural session is May 4, though May 6 or 7 are more realistic. He said all agreed that, following such a decisive electoral mandate, the transition of power needed to happen as swiftly as possible.

He reiterated that Hungarians had voted not just for a change of government, but "regime change". He said Tamás Sulyok was "unworthy and unfit in the eyes of the Hungarian people to embody national unity, uphold the law or serve as a moral compass and role model".

He suggested Tamás Sulyok had failed to defend vulnerable Hungarians, including children, or safeguard democratic institutions, citing "unacceptable" abuses. "The country has been plundered, the national bank robbed, the executive has weaponised intelligence services for partisan ends … even targeting the strongest opposition party and its leader, and ruining civilians." He also condemned the president's silence over how "the lives of thousands of Hungarian minors have been ruined."

Péter Magyar said he had asked Tamás Sulyok to "preserve what is left of of Hungary’s rule of law and democracy by voluntarily resigning once the government changes, and after parliament elects me prime minister and I form the Tisza government". He said he had told the president that "if he did not resign voluntarily, we would use the mandate given to us by voters to remove him and every other puppet appointed by the Orban regime from office".

Péter Magyar said Tamás Sulyok had told him that he too wished to preserve the rule of law and would "consider" his arguments for resignation.

The priority now, Péter Magyar said, was convening parliament's inaugural session and forming a new government as soon as possible, given Hungary's energy crisis and dwindling strategic oil reserves, which he said were now at just 20 percent, while the outgoing government "does nothing but post on Facebook". He criticised the lack of briefings from the current administration, arguing the outgoing prime minister should inform the leader of the incoming government on critical national issues.