Pride goeth before a fall?

 

Part I 

He won the Parliamentary elections with a thumping majority. From Day 1, he was unapologetic about majoritarianism, a hark-back to an elemental “might is right.” Since the Constitution of the country had elements of inclusivity, that was unabashedly a target. He wanted desperately to change the constitution so that he could redesign laws, the number and composition of seats in the parliament, rules of business and rules of election so that he’d rule the roost in perpetuity. 

Many measures were taken to subordinate the judiciary. Judicial appointments got skewed to favour “loyalists.” The judicial administration was engineered to get favourable results. Important cases got assigned to “convenient” judges. 

Next was the turn of the media. Under constant pressure from the government, many of the media houses caved in. The residual independent media was taken over by “friendly” business houses and oligarchs. NGOs were emasculated through curbing their funding, exerting severe financial pressure and through regulatory threats. Most contracts were given to his cronies. These cronies used some of the enormous profits from these to buy media houses. 

Next came the Universities. These needed to be refashioned to suit the ruler’s agenda. A combination of threats, ownerships, funding cuts was the preferred stratagem. 

Electoral rules and laws were rewritten, making it almost impossible for a fragmented opposition to unseat the Supreme Leader. Apart from the electoral personnel management, gerrymandering was used to redefine the electoral constituencies in such a way that it favoured the ruling party. 

The whole thing was underpinned by an aggressive “nationalism” so that anyone not supporting the government was branded “anti-national,” immigrants were considered vile and “either you’re with us or you’re a terrorist” paradigm. 

He hung out a lot with like-minded people like Benjamin Nethanyahu of Israel. He endorsed Trump publicly. He also went around the world collecting assorted medals, some of them previously unheard of. 

Under him, the country slid 69 places in the Press Freedom Index and 11 places in Democracy Index. The funding for political campaigns became suspect. All civil institutions were hollowed out. Elections started resembling “plebiscitary leadership.” A huge stadium was built at a huge cost near his home. 

The leader and his supporters reserved their vilest abuses for billionaire philanthropist George Soros. Soros purportedly promotes his version of an open, liberal society and didn’t hold back on his contempt for the right-wing nationalism the country was adopting. Thus, he became enemy no. 1. 

Sounds familiar? I’m talking about Viktor Orbán, ex-Prime Minister of Hungary. Part II may not be very familiar: 

Part II 

In his efforts to win validation for his despotic regime, Orbán assiduously courted and cultivated that other autocrat Donald J. Trump, the one-man demolition squad for the destruction of the world order. Ever so susceptible to flattery and having a natural affinity for others of his ilk, Trump laid out everything possible to endorse Orbán and make him win the Parliamentary elections on April 12, 2026. 

Trump provided several public endorsements of Orban on his Truth Social platform, hailing him as a "truly strong and powerful leader." At Sharm-el-Sheikh gathering of the Gaza peace summit, he told Orbán in front of other world leaders and the international press, “You are fantastic. I know a lot of people don’t agree with me, but I’m the only one that matters.” He promised to use the "full economic might of the United States to strengthen Hungary's economy" if Orbán won. Trump also sent video messages praising the incumbent to events such as the Hungarian Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). To cap it all, he deployed Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Rubio to Budapest shortly before the elections to publicly back Orbán. 

Despite all this, the carefully constructed edifice came crumbling down after 16 years of the dictatorship. Facing a stagnating economy, failing healthcare, and widespread frustration, the citizens turned out in record numbers—nearly 80 % voter turnout—to decisively vote Orbán out of power, with the opposition party securing a two-thirds parliamentary majority to rebuild the democratic institutions. 

That old guy from Gujarat, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi knew a thing or two: 

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Always.” 

~ Mahatma Gandhi

(Young India, 1920)