Defeated Orban Says He Won’t Take Up Seat, Wants to Lead Renewal

Hungary’s outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he won’t take up his seat in parliament following his party’s landslide defeat in this month’s election but wants to stay on as Fidesz’s leader to lead a process of “renewal.”

The most dominant figure in Hungarian politics since the fall of Communism in 1989, Orban has sat in Hungary’s legislature for 36 years without interruption, serving as premier for the past sixteen years.