Fidesz Re-elects Orban as Leader After April Election Loss

Delegates at Fidesz’s party congress voted 729 to 8 to re-elect Viktor Orban as party leader on Saturday. Orban ran unopposed and addressed the gathering before the ballot, saying he accepted full responsibility for the April defeat.

“I do not give up, I never, never, never, never, never give up,” Orban told the congress. He described Fidesz as a “fantastic governing party” for 16 years but said the organization must adapt to function effectively in opposition.

In the April 12 election, the Tisza party secured a two-thirds majority, giving it the power to amend constitutional changes enacted under Orban. The new government has said it will seek to remove officials appointed during Orban’s tenure and has dropped Hungary’s veto on Ukraine’s European Union membership talks.

Following the policy change, the EU said it would release 16.4 billion euros of the 18 billion euros previously frozen over concerns about democratic standards and corruption. Opinion polls conducted after the election show Fidesz support at 17 percent, down from 39 percent on election day.