Orbán lists ten reasons for Fidesz's election defeat

“I will not give up. Never, ever, ever, I will never give up,” Viktor Orbán said at Fidesz’s congress on Saturday, where, quite unusually, he took the floor early in the day after having previously shared a pamphlet reflecting on the April 12 election on social media. In the speech, he took responsibility for their defeat and defended the party’s campaign manager, Balázs Orbán; the party director responsible for mobilization, Gábor Kubatov; as well as the regional directors and the defeated constituency candidates, especially singling out those from Budapest.

“I am the one responsible for the strategic mistakes, not them.”

Having spent two months assessing the situation, Viktor Orbán came to the conclusion that voters greatly appreciated and approved of the work they did between 2010 and 2022, and even four years ago gave them a mandate to continue governing. Because of this, he believes that it is only the past four years—and the campaign in particular—that need to be evaluated.

He listed ten reasons, which he believes led to Fidesz’s defeat:

1. “Our campaign message was ineffective, while our opponent’s proved to be far more appealing.”
2. “We believed in our victory; we failed to recognize our opponent’s advantage in time, so we did not make any adjustments to our campaign strategy or tactics, as a result of which our election strategy remained flawed throughout.”
3. “We mistakenly assumed that turnout would not exceed previous highs, so our polls and prediction systems failed.”
4. “We wrongly assumed that our in-person, door-to-door mobilization system was better than our opponent’s. Our opponent’s innovations in mobilization were successful, and they left us in the dust.”
5. “We did not respond to the hate campaigns against us. We also did not provide a strong response to the allegations of corruption. We were unable to counter the slander.”
6. “We suffered a catastrophic defeat in the digital space; we fell behind in both technology and content production. 70 percent of TikTok users and 66 percent of Facebook users supported Tisza. Thus, we lost the battle for the attention of young people. The election was lost due to the brutal defeat suffered among young people. I also consider this a personal failure, and I realize that young people have strongly rejected both me personally and my platform.”
7. “Algorithms controlled from abroad gave a glaringly obvious, almost absurdly disproportionate advantage to everything that promoted a change in government.”
8. “Our opponent successfully neutralized our messages about the threat of war looming over Hungary. They even managed to instill doubts about the seriousness of the situation among our own supporters.”
9. “The war and the Brussels sanctions have blocked economic growth across Europe.” According to Orbán, his government was unable to implement an economic policy that would be successful despite the European downturn and that would result in economic growth tangible to the people. “I did not find this path; my government was unable to develop this strategy. (…) As a result, Fidesz and the KDNP were supposed to win the election amid public dissatisfaction with the economy.”
10. “We did not commit to, I did not commit to promises on economic and social issues that I knew were impossible to deliver on. Our opponent did not follow this rule.”

He continued by saying that in its current form, Fidesz is not suited to continue as an opposition party, so there will need to be renewal within the organization as well. ”Serving the country needs to be done differently when one is in government and when one is in opposition.” He believes that in the latter case, one must change one’s posture and tone of voice, and serve the people in a different way, since they are not in a position of governmental power. “In opposition, we must be the voice of the people.”

He also identified Fidesz’s task in the season ahead: they must prevent the government’s flawed decisions and organize “resistance against the government’s misguided views and violent abuses of power.” In addition, they must provide a political community for those who believe in national politics and stand up for those who are unjustly harmed.

“We must stand ready in case the government fails and the people become fed up with them.” According to Orbán, a good opposition is one that is always ready to govern.

He also spoke about the need to transform from a ruling party back into a grassroots movement, noting that now “we need emotional strength instead of biceps.” In the coming years, they will need more civic values and fewer military virtues. This is why, as part of this organizational renewal, they will abolish the electoral district system, and there will be no regional directors or executive vice presidents in the future. The party chairman has envisaged a simple, transparent organizational structure with more in-person meetings.

According to Orbán, the main message of the election results was generational change, which is why the parliamentary group has been reformed and they are electing a new chair and vice chairs too. He would like to remain the chair, but he revealed ahead of the vote who would be elected as vice chairs:

• MEP Kinga Gál will serve as Fidesz’s liaison with European patriots.
• Alpár Gyopáros, MP from Csorna will represent the voice of Hungary’s rural areas on the executive board,
• János Bóka, MP and the former minister for EU affairs, will be tasked with strengthening “the weakened civic and political center, from which the gullible ones and careerists-in true European fashion-crossed over to the Tisza Party”
• Bálint Kreicsi, who was elected mayor of Salgótarján in 2024, will represent local governments on the executive board.

“Let’s straighten out Fidesz by September, all the way from the basement to the attic,” Orbán said. He believes that by fall, it will become clear how long the country will tolerate the current government’s abusive behavior, and then, he says, the time will come for a great national resistance led by the patriots. “By the time leaves fall in autumn, the revitalized Fidesz must be ready.”