Zoltan Kiszelly: Peace March Shakes Credibility of Opposition Pollsters

The largest Peace March in Hungary’s history not only strengthened pro-government voters but also shifted public sentiment in favor of Fidesz — political analyst Zoltan Kiszelly told Magyar Nemzet. According to the expert, the massive turnout sent a clear message: the Hungarian people overwhelmingly back the government’s pro-peace policy, while the opposition — led by the Tisza Party — still fails to offer any clear alternative.

The Peace March in Budapest on October 23, 2025, organized by the Civil Cooperation Forum – Civil Cooperation Public Benefit Foundation (CÖF-CÖKA) on the 69th anniversary of Hungary's 1956 Revolution and War of Independence against the Soviet Union (Photo: MTI/Zsolt Czegledi)

“The biggest Peace March ever has reinforced government supporters, who saw on the morning news and in the photos that an enormous crowd stands behind the government’s peace policy,” Kiszelly said in response to Magyar Nemzet’s question.

(Photo: Zoltan Vanik)

The director of political analysis at the Szazadveg Institute emphasized:

while Tisza Party chief Peter Magyar had it easy mobilizing supporters in Budapest, where left-leaning sympathies dominate, he offered nothing beyond vague promises of a government change.

“The opposition voters — and the country as a whole — are none the wiser,” Kiszelly continued. “Peter Magyar still hasn’t explained his tax plans or clarified his party’s stance on Ukraine.”

While the massive pro-government crowd reaffirmed its commitment to the pro-peace policy, opposition demonstrators are effectively jumping into the dark — they have no idea what they’d actually get after a potential government change,

the analyst observed. He added that the record-breaking Peace March also undermined the credibility of opposition-aligned pollsters, who for months have been claimed that the Tisza Party is leading. “The reality seen in the streets today tells a very different story — the numbers game was clearly won by the governing parties,” he concluded.

Tisza Party supporters need reassurance just as much as government voters do. But it’s important to underline that Peter Magyar’s movement didn’t lose momentum because of a lack of followers — reliable polls still show them at around 35 percent support. They lost ground because of their proposed tax policies — and because they are not being honest with voters. They refuse to tell the truth," the political analyst said, adding, “this won’t change, because as Tisza Party politician Zoltan Tarr himself admitted, if they told the public what they were really planning, they would certainly lose the elections.

According to Kiszelly, October 23 clearly belonged to Fidesz, which managed to bring massive crowds to the streets — in direct contrast to opposition-linked pollsters who claimed the governing parties had lost public support. The size and energy of the turnout effectively disproved that narrative, he said.

Fidesz became the day’s winner politically also because, while the governing party’s mobilization worked flawlessly, the Tisza Party felt the need to preemptively frame its own likely failure. Peter Magyar’s team was already spinning excuses before the fact — talking about roadblocks, claiming they couldn’t rent buses, and even questioning why train travel wasn’t made free for the event,

Kiszelly pointed out in closing.

Cover photo: The Peace March in Budapest on October 23, 2025, organized by the Civil Cooperation Forum – Civil Cooperation Public Benefit Foundation (CÖF-CÖKA) on the 69th anniversary of Hungary's 1956 Revolution and War of Independence against the Soviet Union (Photo: MTI/Zsolt Czegledi)