BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) 鈥� An aspiring challenger to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb谩n renewed his calls for change Friday as he led a protest of several thousand people demanding a more robust child protection system and the resignation of Orb谩n's government.
The demonstrators gathered outside Hungary's Interior Ministry in Budapest and called for its head, S谩ndor Pint茅r, to step down over what they see as his failure to prevent the sexual abuse of children in state-run institutions, a crime which has led to in recent months.
Peter Magyar, a 43-year-old lawyer who has emerged as a new voice of opposition to Hungary's right-wing government, took aim at Orb谩n's portrayal of himself as a defender of families and traditional values, and called for genuine reforms to address child welfare.
鈥淲e have a government that claims to be family friendly. It is a government that pretends to be Christian. A government that lies about being child-friendly. A government that lies about being pro-peace," Magyar told the crowd. 鈥淭he opposite is true. They lie in the morning, they lie at night, they lie everywhere they can.鈥�
The demonstration was the latest in a that Magyar has mobilized in recent weeks, and comes as the political newcomer is campaigning for European Union elections this June with his new party, Respect and Freedom (TISZA). He has called for Orb谩n and his government to step down, and vowed to represent a third option for Hungarians disillusioned by both Orb谩n's 14 years of governance and Hungary's fragmented and ineffectual opposition parties.
A one-time insider within Orb谩n's Fidesz party and the ex-husband of former justice minister and Orb谩n ally Judit Varga, Magyar shot to prominence when he publicly accused the government of corruption and cronyism following a child sexual abuse scandal that in February of the president and justice minister.
The scandal erupted after it was revealed that the former president, Katalin Nov谩k, had issued a presidential pardon to a man convicted of trying to cover up child sexual abuse in a rural youth home. The case went to the heart of Orb谩n's image as a Christian conservative who protects families and children from what he calls 鈥淟GBTQ propaganda.鈥�
Magyar on Friday said that Hungary's child protection policies, which have been and abridging the rights of sexual minorities, have allowed abuses to go on unpunished, and demanded that Orb谩n apologize to the survivors of abuse in the orphanage.
Hungary's government has dismissed Magyar as an opportunist seeking a new career after he lost several positions in state companies following his divorce with the former justice minister. But his message has had wide appeal, and opinion polls showed that his new party is likely to gain seats in the European Parliament in June elections.
L谩szl贸 Horv谩th Etele, one of the demonstrators on Friday, said he sees Magyar as capable not only of mounting a real challenge to Orb谩n, but of disrupting the opposition parties that have been unable to unseat him in 14 years.
"To be able to defeat the currently reigning government, this opposition needs to be changed. The current Hungarian opposition was only able to deliver a two-thirds majority for Fidesz," he said. 鈥淚 think that whoever loses so many times in a row should leave the field and give his place to new challengers who may have a chance.鈥�