BUDAPEST: Hungarian anti-government protesters took to the streets on Tuesday after strongman Viktor Orban was nominated for re-election as prime minister for a third consecutive term, as the country’s new parliament was inaugurated.

Orban was recommended as prime minister by President Janos Ader in the first session of the new 199-seat assembly, with his formal re-election and swearing in as premier scheduled for Thursday, not Tuesday as previously indicated by parliament.

Earlier, several hundred angry anti-Orban protesters gathered outside to jeer at lawmakers amid a heavy police presence, shouting “Traitors!” and “Orban, come out!”

A bigger demonstration, expected to draw tens of thousands, is scheduled outside parliament on Tuesday evening.

They are part of a grassroots civil protest movement that has sprung up since April’s parliamentary election, with opposition party leaders still reeling from the results.

Orban’s ruling right-wing Fidesz party upset predictions of a tight contest by winning with a landslide 49 per cent of the vote compared to under 20pc for its nearest challenger, the nationalist Jobbik party.

That helped Fidesz clinch a third consecutive two-thirds parliamentary majority in a row, allowing Orban legislative carte blanche to amend the constitution and fast-track new laws.

Since the vote, Orban has pledged to govern in the interests of all Hungarians and has called his victory “the biggest mandate” since the switch from communism in 1990.

Turnout also increased sharply on previous elections, Ader said during his speech to open parliament, adding that the legitimacy of the result is “above question”. The vote was a “celebration of democracy,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2018