Two-thirds of Hungarians do not believe Orbán will be able to return to power, survey finds

Nearly two-thirds of Hungarians—66 percent—are of the opinion that Fidesz has no chance of recovering its former strength, according to a recent survey by the Publicus Institute, commissioned by Népszava and conducted between May 5 and 14. The survey found that only 27 percent believe Fidesz might still be able to pull itself together. Eight out of ten supporters of the former ruling party currently believe that their party will be able to regain its dominance.

However, even fewer consider the former prime minister’s return realistic.

According to 76 percent of those surveyed, Viktor Orbán will not be able to make a comeback, or is unlikely to do so, with 69 percent of them believing that there is absolutely no chance of this happening at all.

Fewer than two in ten among those surveyed believe that Orbán could make a comeback, and 44 percent said that he “is doing the right thing by retreating into the background,” while 14 percent agreed that “he is doing the right thing because this is how he can reorganize Fidesz.”

Nearly half of all Fidesz voters agree that Orbán can be efficient in reorganizing the party by moving into the background at this stage, but two out of ten Fidesz supporters consider his stepping back a mistake. Supporters of the Tisza Party believe it is time for Orbán to retreat, but 44 percent of them believe he should have taken up his mandate in parliament.

According to Publicus' survey, more than half of Fidesz supporters consider former Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó a suitable candidate for leading Fidesz in the future. János Lázár and András Cser-Palkovics were also among the candidates mentioned, but only 7 percent of Fidesz supporters would back each of them, while 15 percent opted for "someone else".

Six out of ten people believe that corruption was the biggest mistake of the Fidesz governments, and ultimately led to their defeat.

Endre Hann, who heads the research institute Medián, also said after the election in late April that corruption had played a decisive role in the election results.

According to Publicus’s findings, the second most important issue in this regard was the state of healthcare; roughly half of those surveyed considered this to be the Fidesz government’s greatest sin. Additionally, more than a quarter of respondents cited the state of the country's education system and of the economy as decisive factors.