Ákos Hadházy insisted that Orbán was now despised internationally for his “populist campaign of provocation”. Referring to Orbán’s plans to amend the constitution, Hadházy said that the fundamental law was a “joke” since it has proved to be “as soft as putty rather than as hard as granite”.

The referendum was destructive, Hadházy said, because it had whipped up “panic-like fear” in many while distracting from the “looting of EU funds”.

Only 11,000 out of half a million Hungarians abroad had pre-registered to vote in the referendum, he said, adding that it was hard to establish how many voters of dual citizenship had died since their registration, and calling for changes to eliminate anomalies in the election system.

Achieving this requires cooperation between the parliamentary parties, he said.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.

MTI photo: Máthé Zoltán