Power sharing as trust building in Hungary
A new prime minister sets a template for ending the concentration of power left by his authoritarian, populist predecessor
Children from Hungary's minority Roma community play a Roma song at the inaugural session of the new Parliament, in Budapest, May 9.
Bernadett Szabo/Reuters
One gauge of a society鈥檚 level of interpersonal trust lies in how much the central government shares power 鈥� with local authorities, courts, private citizen groups, and others. For the last 16 years in Hungary, such trust has been evaporating. An increasingly authoritarian leader, Viktor Orb谩n, had been centralizing power and creating 鈥渦s versus them鈥� polarization around often-fabricated issues.
On Saturday, all that changed with the swearing-in of a new prime minister, P茅ter Magyar. His broad-tent Tisza party won big in elections a month ago. In his inaugural speech, Mr. Magyar pledged not to rule over Hungary but to 鈥渟erve鈥� it 鈥� through reconciliation, inclusiveness, and democratic renewal.
鈥淲e are going to remake the constitutional system so that such a concentration of power can never happen again,鈥� he declared. Mr. Magyar also apologized to people who had been marginalized and maligned by the state during Mr. Orb谩n鈥檚 long tenure.
In many countries where authoritarian rulers have recently been turned out, decentralization has become a prime goal, along with curbs on corruption that often accompany an aggregation of power. Hungary鈥檚 agenda under a new leader provides a template for such reforms.
Mr. Magyar promises to reinforce judicial independence and restore autonomy to local governments and universities. He has been adamant in ending government controls over Hungarian news media.
He plans to limit a prime minister to two terms 鈥� and reactively apply that rule to Mr. Orb谩n. 鈥淚 saw how power can destroy a man,鈥� said Mr. Magyar, who once served in his predecessor鈥檚 government.
Part of his distribution of power began during his speech to a large crowd in Budapest. He gave credit to the huge majority of voters who elected his party. 鈥淵ou have taught the country and the world that it is the most ordinary, flesh-and-blood people that can defeat the most vicious tyranny,鈥� he said.
He also proclaimed a repairing of societal trust. 鈥淲hat connects us will be stronger than what divides us. Hungary will be home for every Hungarian, and everyone can feel like they have a place in the Hungarian nation. Family, friends and communities will be able to speak to each other again.鈥�
Even before the election, Mr. Magyar was sure of the example that his party would set by winning. At one campaign event, he noted the presence of journalists from a pro-Kremlin Russian newspaper: 鈥淚 welcome the Russian propaganda media. Enjoy the freedom 鈥� and the regime change!鈥�