Orban says he will not take seat in Hungary’s parliament after landslide election loss

BUDAPEST — Outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will not take his seat in parliament following a landslide election loss this month, and will instead focus on rebuilding his nationalist-populist political community, he announces in a video on social media.

Hungary’s April 12 election brought an end to Orban’s 16 years in power when voters cast their ballots overwhelmingly for a center-right challenger who promised to crack down on endemic corruption and restore Hungary’s democratic institutions that had been eroded under Orban. Since the election, the long-serving prime minister’s future role in Hungarian political life, and whether he will retain a role in government, has been uncertain.

But in a video posted to Facebook, Orban says his party’s caucus in parliament would be “radically transformed” following the election loss, and that he would not take his seat.

“Our task now is not in parliament,” Orban says, but in the “reorganization” of his political camp that he calls the “national side.”

“I have led our community for nearly four decades,” Orban adds. “This camp has always been the most united and cohesive political community in Hungary.”