Peter Marki-Zay, prime ministerial candidate of the united Hungarian opposition, has accused Prime Minister Viktor Orban of wasting Hungary's opportunity to converge with EU countries and turning it into the second-poorest country in the EU.

"I was among the 2.7mn to vote for Viktor Orban in 2010, but he has dismantled check and balances and abused its power and wasted the opportunity for Hungary to converge with EU countries", Marki-Zay said in a speech assessing the state of the country on February 17.

Speaking in a television studio in Budapest in the first large gathering of opposition parties since the historic primaries, the conservative mayor lambasted the government for “plundering Hungary” and turning Hungary into the second-poorest country in the EU despite receiving "tens of thousands of billions" in the past 12 years.

Hungary could have used the funds to narrow disparities "if not with Austria but with many other countries in the region, but instead, Hungary is doing worse than Romania," he said. According to 2020 figures, Hungary is actually the seventh poorest country in the EU, in terms of GDP per capita on a purchasing power basis, and is above Romania.

The 49-year conservative mayor of Hodmezovasarhely won the autumn primaries to face off Orban in the April 3rd elections. The race remains open even as polls show Fidesz ahead with a margin of error, but the contest will be decided in a couple dozen districts out of the 106 and the remaining 93 mandates will be split based on votes for the national list.

Marki-Zay’s campaign has been in defensive mode in recent weeks, fending off accusations that he would end fixed energy prices for households and tear down the southern border wall and take back the extra month of pensions. Pro-government media, which remained silent during the opposition primary votes, has run scathing smear campaigns against the opposition leader, who has also made life hard for himself for some controversial comments.

Opposition parties are expected to announce their list of candidates running on the national list by the February 25 deadline and on the same day will come forward with their election programme.

Despite behind the door haggling about positions on the national list, opposition leaders stand united behind their leader.

The 49-year conservative small-town mayor insisted that the Fidesz-run government bore responsibility for depreciation of Hungary's international standing. Ever since 2010, the country has been going down rather than forward in almost all areas: not only in terms of corruption, mortality, impoverishment but concerning its international credit rating and the state of the rule of law," Marki-Zay said.

Marki-Zay took some time to list achievements of the government, such as the public works schemes, a ban on gambling machines and smoking in enclosed public spaces, dual citizenship to ethnic kin and the fence along Hungary's southern borders.

He slammed Orban for "failing to show any sympathy" over the 43,000 Hungarians lost to the coronavirus pandemic during his state of the nation speech on Saturday.

Marki-Zay also criticised the political elite for "excluding millions of Hungarians from opportunities to find prosperity" while "some of them have amassed limitless wealth". "A prime minister pretending to have no savings is now the richest of Hungary's privileged," he said.

Teachers "stripped of their freedom" and neglected healthcare with run-down facilities and staff quitting are the "most obvious failures" of the government, Marki-Zay said.

The next government should double the family allowance, increase the minimum pension and cut taxes on minimum wages to help the poorest, he added.

Although their programme is not final yet, opposition parties pledged steep wage hikes for teachers and health care workers immediately, two sectors facing a catastrophic labour shortage and depressed wages.  

He added that they would scrap waiting lists for hospital procedures and if necessary, finance some health care services at private health care providers from social security funds.

Hungary will join the European Prosecutor's Office and set up an anti-corruption prosecutor's office of its own, he said. An opposition government will start preparations for the introduction of the euro, reduce VAT on basic food products, and scrap the state monopoly on tobacco, he said.

Marki-Zay did not elaborate much on foreign policy issues, but called for a government not "subservient" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Under a new government, Hungary will be "a faithful ally" to the European Union and Nato, he said.

Opposition party leaders took to the stage before Marki-Zay. Democratic Coalition's MEP Klara Dobrev, his rival in the autumn primary, said that at stake in the April election was whether democratic politicians, the free press, and civilians who disagreed with the government would be silenced, or whether Hungary would be "a free, fair, European" country.