Who’s next?

After all these years of reporting on democratic backsliding in the European Union, it almost feels too good to be true to write about the stunning political demise of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

On Sunday, former government insider turned challenger Péter Magyar was officially declared Hungary’s new Prime Minister, clinching 138 parliamentary seats out of a total of 199 – a supermajority of almost 70%.

The results of the closely watched election, widely viewed as a litmus test for Europe’s appetite for far-right strongmen, bring a sweeping sense of relief to EU member states whose dependence on achieving consensus to make decisions was held hostage by Orbán’s deference to Russia and the US.

On the domestic front, the Hungarian public’s response to Magyar’s anti-corruption rallying cry, which was clearly tied to the country’s economic weaknesses and the crippling incompetence of public services, also sends a clear message to populists incapable of reining in abuse of power.

Even when saturated with propaganda and fearmongering, general elections are being decided by what’s left in people’s pockets once they’re done paying bills, by how confident people are in a country’s government to steer the ship through troubled waters, and by how wide the gap between rhetoric and reality actually is.

As Hungarians take to the streets to celebrate Magyar’s impressive victory, a broader question beckons: is Orbán’s defeat the turning point that European leaders hope it will be? Or is it merely a flash in the pan that will be quickly undone by ugly geopolitics?

Put more bluntly: who’s next on the chopping block?

In other European countries closer to home, similar tremors among far-right parties have also been felt.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, previously governing with an aura of electoral invincibility, was also dealt a significant blow when her government failed to push through an unpopular vote that would have muzzled the country’s fiercely independent judiciary.

In France’s municipal elections, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally failed to land any killing blows ahead of the final sprint towards the presidential seat next year, despite the party’s comfortable lead in most national polls.

Though it would be premature to leap to any conclusions based on any one country’s elections, it’s tempting to hope that the wave of authoritarian, corrupt populists may now be losing its otherwise seemingly unstoppable momentum.

With our very own general elections around the corner, one must also ask: will Malta ever experience the kind of political revolution that Hungarians voted for en masse after 16 years of rampant corruption?

If there is anything that can be adapted into the local context from Magyar’s playbook, it’s the idea that the general public is likely to respond to anyone who can clearly denounce corruption and exhibit a laser sharp focus on addressing it.

The sad reality is that Malta’s political landscape lacks a credible figure who can build the kind of movement that rallied behind Hungary’s new Prime Minister, and Maltese people do not seem to share the same capacity for active democratic participation that Hungarians displayed during these elections.

Though the Nationalist Party’s new leader is making similar overtures by confidently promising a more competent government, Alex Borg’s rhetoric does not signal the same unrelenting commitment to rooting out corruption that was displayed by Magyar.

While Hungary’s economy under Orbán was coming under increasing strain, Malta’s economy maintains a breakneck pace of growth, making it more challenging to bring home the link between dysfunctional public services and corruption.

Until any aspiring local politicians manage to successfully craft a message that adequately addresses people’s day-to-day problems by rooting out corruption and leveling the playing field for everyone, Malta’s chopping block moment will remain a distant, unlikely scenario.