Viktor Orban re-elected — a victory for illiberal democracy in Europe

Viktor Orban, Hungary's Prime Minister  and his party  Civic Alliance (Fidesz) won a landslide victory in the national election held on April 08. Orban secured 133 seats in a parliament of 199. Voter turnout was 69 per cent which is considered to a record turnout. This is his third consecutive victory; previous two victories  were in 2010 and 2014. Orban waged election campaign focused on the familiar litany against migrants. Use of nostalgia in politics is also another Orban hallmark, and his  appeals to vanished white Christian past have been a mainstay of his rhetoric. He declared that Hungary had proved that Christian culture and way of life was not part of the past rather the nation would bring it into the future. But his vision of a culturally homogenous Europe and Hungary being an integral part of that homogeneity does not fit either into contemporary nor historical Europe. We in Bangladesh can easily see the very similar ethos across the order. In fact, Orban is very fond of the Indian Prime Minister Modi's  style of democracy in operation now in India. He also has expressed his admiration for Mr Lee (of Singapore), Mr Putin and Mr Erdogan. His civilisational struggle is also directed against other outsiders like the European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros. He accused Mr Soros and his allies of planning to flood the country by Muslim migrants. But the southern border is now completely sealed making it impossible for refugees or migrants to cross into Hungary.

Hungary, a country of 10 million people with scarcely any natural resources, yet has a lot of historical grievances. Orban plays on those historical grievance dating back to the 1848 revolution, the 1920 treaty of Trianon and the 1956 anti-Communist uprising. The  country  was successively  invaded and ruled by  the Mongols, the Turks and the Austrians. Mr Orban's recollection and propagation of  that collective memory resonate with a large section of the population. Orban rarely shies away for this part of the Hungarian history and his subtext to this history is always the sacrifice made by the Hungarians and to create a historical sense of victimhood,  but not any serious attempt to face up to serious economic and social problems in the country.  A theme we in Bangladesh are, again,   familiar as we look across into the neighbouring country where the Hindu nationalist government,  which also has a lot historical grievances against a particularly targeted group of invaders and propagates a  sense of historical victimhood,  is, now being in power, seeking to redress those grievances. Ironically, conclusive evidence is now available that clearly indicates that the forbearers of north Indians (North India is the heart land of Hindu nationalists) and a large section of south Indians are invaders themselves. India is also building fences along the Bangladesh border like  Orban is doing in Hungary - both the countries with the identical objectives. But there is no serious attempt to address the serious economic and social  issues facing India now - a country where one quarter of the world's    poorest live - and a country with extremely high  economic and social inequities not to speak of many other dismal statistics.

What Orban is trying to portray is that his election victory is less about a rally against the EU, it is all about conveying and articulating European visions.  But his increasingly autocratic style of governance is troubling for many both within Hungary and other European countries. He cracked down on the media and the state television has become no more than a propaganda machine for himself and his party. Allegations of very high levels of corruption by his cronies, including members of his family, are widespread. A system of state patronage has been developed by channelling state funds to his cronies via overpriced contracts. Even the laws have been changed in a way which facilitate such corruption, making it difficult to challenge them in a court. Even many  politicians belonging to other political parties have recalibrated their allegiance to Findesz, after all, survival  and prosperity depend on one's ability to transform to adjust to the new order which appears to be secure in holding power for the foreseeable future. Having access to power has also become a route to amassing wealth in Hungary.

Orban has placed his cronies and party hacks in charge of all important public institutions thus extending his control over those institutions. Hungary under him has now practically obscured the boundaries between the state and the party, indeed there are talks now by party ideologues to remake the state in the image of their ideological orientation. Hungary for all practical purposes has turned into a crony state. Orban now has complete control over all the state institutions and organs.

Orban's victory in the election is partly also a reflection on his opponents' failure to mount a meaningful challenge against him. They failed to address the serious economic and social issues facing the country which is one of the poorest countries in Europe. In effect, there  exists an all-party consensus against immigration and a belief that foreign cultures is against the national interest - in fact, a threat to national identity. On winning the election Orban declared his party ''won a fatal victory''. Indeed, as the election results became clear the leaders of both the far right JobbiK party and the left-leaning Socialists had resigned. But Orban's election victory is partly also due to his  manipulation of the  electoral system which is clearly demonstrated by the fact that his party only received 49 per cent of the votes (outperforming its vote in 2014 by 4.0 percentage points), yet managed to secure two-thirds of the parliamentary seats.His opponents, who support Hungary's close alignment with the EU,  have dubbed him as ''Victator''.

Machiavellian manoeuvring is nothing unusual in politics, but Orban just excels in  it and outperforms his political rivals. Orban  shapes as much as fits the European zeitgeist and anti-immigrant rhetoric just nicely fits into that among others.  His plan to build razor wire  fencing to stem the flow of migrants is very popular with his electorate, while at the same time causing an embarrassment to the EU leadership. ''To  defend border is a national responsibility,'' he declared. Like all other authoritarian leaders, Orban's politics is more opportunistic than principled.  He is more a pragmatic authoritarian broadly conforming to EU rules, but he also at the same time ensured to put the media and the judiciary on a leash. His opportunism is reflected clearly in his anti-refugee slogans which are directed to attract and mobilise right-wing and fascist forces to his side. He now also has the required majority in parliament which will allow him to amend the constitution. He has become the talisman of European  mainstream right. His party, Findesz is a member of the European umbrella organisation, the European People's Party (EPP) that includes all European mainstream right-wing political parties including the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU).

Orban has successfully rolled back the democratic process in Hungary to build what he himself declared as illiberal democracy. His successful political engineering has unleashed nationalist sentiments greased by spreading Islamophobia. He has uncanny capacity to reinvent himself over years and he hardly holds any strong belief except to hold on to power by whatever means he can use. He has very successfully presented himself to his countrymen and women as the only viable political leader relative to others, and surprisingly, many both within Hungary and in other EU countries agree. The party that secured the second position  in the election, JobbiK,  is openly racist and  further  right to far-right Findesz. Orban , who has championed illiberal democracy,  has now become the symbol of illiberal politics in Europe.

Muhammad Mahmood is an independent economic and political analyst.

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