Péter Magyar and his victorious Tisza party have wasted no time preparing for the transfer of power in Hungary after their dramatic landslide defeat of Viktor Orbán last Sunday.
They won 52% of the vote to put an end to his party’s 16 years of continuous rule, which translates into 140 seats in the 199-seat National Assembly.
Orbán’s Fidesz have slumped from 135 to 53 seats.
The count will be finalised on Saturday – including recounts in closely tied constituencies, and votes cast abroad.
Magyar has won a pledge from President Tamás Sulyok to bring forward the formation of the new parliament to the week beginning 4 May. Parliament can then elect the new government.
He also gave combative interviews to public service TV and radio, which have largely ignored or attacked him for the past two years.
He has promised to pass laws to suspend their news programmes, until impartial editors can be appointed.
All this will take time.
